Bolt's Soul Chronicles Book 3: Madness in the Eyes
by cloudsword
Summary: Bolt is back, yet Savage has gone insane. Now Bolt and Mittens must battle Nightmare and avoid Savage's attacks as they make their way to meet up with Rhino again. With Dark Bolt still in his head, how will Bolt fair in this new challenge? READ and REVIEW please!
1. Chapter 1 Regret

**Soul Chronicles: Madness in the Eyes**

**This is the the third book in the sequel to my Warrior's Soul books. I however do not own Bolt or any of its characters, Disney does!**

**Narration:**

I've done some pretty bad things recently. I could blame someone else for it though. You see, I was possessed by my dark self and just went crazy. Another of my friends had the same problem, except he didn't have anyone to blame. The interesting thing is, he actually tried to blame someone else. Me, I just can't help feeling like it's all my fault, though my wife tells me that it isn't. I'm sure she feels like it's all hers, but I know better. Oh, sorry. I'm a white American Shepherd with super powers. I can shoot lasers out of my eyes catch bullets in my fur without much more than an irritating pinch to my skin, and when I really bark, I can turn the street into a pile of rubble. I have incredible strength and speed, and I can mimic just about any kind of sonic attack. My name is just like the black patch of fur on my hip…

**Chapter 1 – Regret**

"Bolt?" Mittens the tuxedo cat asked, "Are you ok?" Bolt turned to her, his large blue eyes shining with unshed tears as they walked towards their destination, "Yah!" he said and lifted his paw to whip his eyes, catching some blood from his bleeding cheek as he did, "It's just, I've never tried to kill anyone before." Mittens pressed her side up against his, "I know, it's just…" she began, "…I shouldn't have run away from you in the first place." Bolt smiled, turning to her with understanding, "No." he said, "I'm glad you did. At least now I know how to hold him back if he ever does break free again." They both smiled to each other, stopping in their tracks as they gazed into each other's eyes. Mittens blushed under her black fur and giggled as they inched closer. They touched lips once, twice, and pressed into a passionate kiss, one that neither of them wanted to break. "I missed you!" she said when they did come up for air, and rubbed her face into his furry chest. Bolt lifted one paw, wrapping it around her shoulders gently, "So did I!" he responded, and cringed as he pressed his injured cheek to her head. "I can heal that for you!" she said as she lifted her face. "No, I…" he began, "I want it as a reminder." he said. "A reminder?" she asked as she lifted one eyebrow curiously. "Yah, so I never forget the strength you give me." he responded. "Well thank you bolt, but if you keep it then it'll just remind me that I hurt you!" she said and lifted her paws, gently grabbing him behind his ears and lowering his head. She softly planted a kiss on his forehead, "All you need as a reminder is me!" she said, "And I promise never to run away from you again!" Bolt lifted his eyes, looking at her through the tops of them, and sighed as he turned his eyes back to the ground, "Ok!" he said, "Let's see this new magic of yours!" Mittens smiled and moved her paws to his cheeks. She was very careful, only extracting one set of water claws and letting the water spread over his bleeding wounds. Bolt closed his eyes, completely expecting it to hurt, but quickly found it a tingling sensation as the water changed from a clear blue to a dingy green with algae. He opened his eye, the one closest to the water, and strained to look at his cheek. He saw the water swimming with green muck, just as it popped, and dropped to the ground. His cheek was perfect, the fur had grown back, and even his old scars had vanished. As soon as she had dropped her paws, he lifted his, feeling the flesh under his fur, "That's incredible!" he said in surprise. Mittens shied away a little, "Well, no not really. It was just basic water magic!" she said, "I'm still having trouble with more advanced healing, but just the fact that I can use it to heal was enough to master the element. I still need to work on it to become a master like Skylar."

"You don't say!" Bolt said happily, as the two of them began walking again. "Yah." she replied, "He saved my life." Bolt smiled again, "I'll have to thank him." the dog said. Mittens again snuggled into his side, and could almost feel his mood go cold, "Are you ok?" she asked. Bolt turned to her, a sad expression on his face, "I was wondering, did I really hurt that alien girl?" he asked. Mittens turned down, "Oh," she said, "You saw that?" Bolt sighed, "Yah!" he said, "Thought I was hoping it was something Dark Bolt had made up to throw me into a deeper despair."

"We left her a few cities back!" Mittens told him, "She's in good hands."

"I'd still like to say I'm sorry!" Bolt said gently. Mittens sighed, and wrapped her paws around his neck, "I understand." she said softly, and pulled out her grass claws, "If you run fast we can get there in about twenty minutes." and climbed onto his back, letting the claws root themselves into his fur. Bolt smiled, and crouched down, "You ready?" he asked. "No!" Mittens said nervously, and Bolt took off, leaving a streak of white and black where he raced.

Rhino stood still as he watched the unconscious shrunken Neutrosian lay there. He moved only his eyes as he let strange thoughts race through his mind. How would she react? What would she say? What should he say? Would she blame him for her injury? He waited as she just laid there, the dialed down equipment monitoring her heart and vitals. He turned his wandering eyes to the machine, the only thing they had that was of normal human size in the room at the moment. Rhino had to fashion a cable from tape, a smaller gauge cord and a headphone jack. It worked just right for her size. He could read the machine easily, as if everything were in everyday words for a child. Her heart was fine and the rest of the vitals were stable, so why hadn't she woken up? Suddenly he heard it, the small groan of the angel like person in front of him. "Ohhhh!" Angelira said as she shifted her head. She let her eyes flutter open, blinded by the light of the table. "Angelira!" Rhino said happily as he grabbed her hand. "You're awake."

"Oh, what happened?" she asked. "Dark Bolt took us by surprise!" Rhino replied, "But his energy signature has completely faded!"

"Is that a good thing?" she asked tiredly. "Yah, it is. It means that Mittens was successful in defeating Dark Bolt, and Bolt's original signature means that Bolt is back to himself!" he told her softly, "We won!"

After he had said those words, he was almost certain Angelira would have tried to argue, or say that he did very little if anything at all, but instead she patted his paw, "That is good news!" she said tiredly, "And me?"

"You?" Rhino asked. Angelira slowly nodded, "Well, you were knocked unconscious by Dark Bolt, and it was enough of a force to give you a concussion!" he answered. "Oh." Angelira said as she felt her mind begin to clear. "What about Mittens?" she asked, and then let her eyes open in realization, "Oh wait, you already…"

"She almost died!" Rhino said, interrupting her. Angelira let her eyes open wide in shock, "But you said…" she began. "You're brother helped to heal her, she wouldn't have made it without him." Rhino explained. "Skylar?" she asked. Rhino nodded, "So Mittens is still alive?" she asked. Rhino nodded again, this time with a smile on his face, "And she freed Bolt from his own mind." she told herself, and with a smile stretched her arms, before wrapping them around his neck, "You saved us both didn't you?" she said. Rhino wrapped his paws around her back, embracing her again, right before the door burst open. "Rhino!" General Ducker said, "We have a problem!"

Bolt quickly showed up at the hospital Mittens pointed him to, "This is it!" she said. Bolt took a cleansing breath, "Ok, let's go!" he said, and waked to the door. To say he was surprised when the door flew open would be an understatement, he actually ran as fast as he could to hide behind Mittens, "I'msorry,pleasedon'tkillme!" Bolt said as quickly as he could. "Wow!" Mittens said as she lowered her eyes in sarcasm, "Real heroic Bolt!"

"Tch!" the heard another familiar voice say, "What a wuss!" Bolt peeked from behind Mittens, finding Dustin standing there, a worried look masked with that of amusement. Bolt stood up straight, clearing his throat and trying to salvage some dignity, "You just startled me is all." he said, "I was apologizing to Mittens!"

Sure!" Dustin said, "And I'm #$!& Santa Claus!" Mittens growled a little, "Please don't use that word in conjunction with a Christmas icon!" she said. "Sorry!" Dustin said, "You just missed Savage, she glided away almost half an hour ago."

"What happened?" Mittens asked in worry. "She woke up and flipped out!" Dustin said, "She flew off that way!" the human pointed north east, back the way they came. "We didn't see her!" Bolt said. "You wouldn't have, she used the updrafts to make it to the clouds." Dustin said. "Tell us everything that happened after she woke up, and I don't want you to leave out any details!" Mittens said as she narrowed her eyes to the human.

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2 Secrets

**Chapter 2 – Secrets**

"What do you mean we have a few missing?" Rhino nearly screamed as he was led into Ducker's new office. It looked just like a regular office, a metal desk off to one side and a few fold up metal chairs. The room hadn't been decorated due to lack of time. "Exactly what I just said, a few of our solders got lost wandering the Catacombs the three of you had those Neutrosians build."

"They weren't designed to be a labyrinth!" Rhino said, "It's simple to navigate, go in a straight line to get to where you want! The junctions are there to guide you! There are signs everywhere!"

"Look digital signs…" Ducker began. "I also had the Neutrosians carve them into the walls and then offset them with metal! You can do that with magic!" Rhino interrupted. Shaking his head, Ducker continued, "Look, it's like navigating a city street way, some people just can't do it!" Ducker said. "Ugh!" Rhino said, "And the ones that we know could?"

"No one's heard from Meggans since the evacuation began!" Ducker said. Rhino let his eyes go wide, "What!?" he asked, "Meggans is among the missing?" Ducker sat down in his metal chair, "I thought you were told!" he said, "We found out during roll call the moment we got back!"

"We have to go back and find her!" Rhino said, and was quickly scooped up by Ducker, "Oh no you don't!" the man said, and placed something against his ball. The device looked as if it were a claw, one that wrapped around his ball in all four directions with two points blinking red. "Hey!" Rhino shouted, "What's the big idea?"

"We need you here; you're the only one who can rebuild the GET and the O-TIP!" Ducker told him. "What?!" Rhino called out. "Consider it an opportunity to apologize to Angelira while you help us." Ducker explained, "This Anti-Nano Chain will keep your nanites on lock down until **I **take it off. That way you don't make any rash decisions."

"Rescuing Meggans is a RASH DECISION?" Rhino screamed and jumped in his ball. "I've got my best trackers on it now, we'll find her!" Ducker said and stood up, "Until then, you should get to work!" Rhino sat down in his ball, scoffing angrily as Ducker walked him down a hallway. "I just figured out why Mittens didn't like you!" he said as they arrived at a door. Ducker leaned forward, placing his eye against a hole in the wall, "Welcome General Ducker!" a female computer voice said, and a piece of the wall next to the door slid open. "I built that camouflage!" Rhino complained. "Oh stuff it hamster!" Ducker said in anger. "I'm one sixteenth wolf! With a little wolverine." he corrected, and again pouted, even as he entered an area more than five times as big as the room he had built the first GET in. Off in the corner he saw the beginnings of the O-TIP, and in the center, a large screen towered above the crowd. "Come to think of it, I don't remember this room!" he said as he finally took notice. "That's because I had the Neutrosians build it secretly." Ducker said. "Welcome to Tarnildra" the two of them heard Kelly Nortlund say. Rhino looked in her direction, her pad still in her hand, "Oh good!" Rhino said, "You still have the pad!"

"How is that good?" Ducker asked. "I means I don't have to start all over with the GET program. I can just upload it from that thing!" Rhino told him. "Well great, you need to build it first!" Ducker reminded him. Rhino lowered his eyes, only to lift one in curiosity, "Wait, Tarnildra?" he asked. "That's right!" Ducker said. "It's ancient Neutrosian for 'defend from below'. From here, we'll be able to monitor the entire world, help those that need to be helped." Kelly said happily. "Look that's all fine in theory, but I can see this going wrong in so many ways!" Rhino said. "Look, it's necessary right now, so we need those two machines, and you have plenty of helpers this time, not just one!" Ducker said impatiently. Rhino turned to him, shaking in anger, "Fine!" the hamster said, "But I'm putting a new protocol in it as well. They have to have committed a major crime for the GET to alert you. If your men are deployed prematurely, there will be consequences!"

"Really?" asked Ducker. "Yes! Really!" Rhino said, and pointed to the ground. Ducker placed the indestructible ball on the ground, letting Rhino roll away. "Sir, why did you challenge Rhino like that?" Kelly asked. "Because he's the smartest of anyone on any world Ms. Nortlund. If he can find a system that will work to keep this new organization from corruption, then we'll thrive even if our government does not. The thing is; he needs to be pushed into these things." Ducker whispered his reply.

"So she's afraid of me?" Bolt asked as he listened to the human. "Yah, she just freaked out, and the look in her eyes, it's like she lost the one thing she wanted the most in life and just…snapped." Dustin said. It sounded to Mittens like the man felt sorry for his friend, "That poor girl!" she said, "And she has no idea that Bolt is back to his old self?"

"I don't think she even knows his old self!" Dustin admitted. Bolt stood up, without even a second thought, "Let's go show her my old self!" he said. "Bolt?" she asked. "I still need to apologize to her. Maybe that will help calm her down!" Bolt told her. "He yah. As if!" Dustin responded under his breath. "Would you rather me not try?" Bolt asked. The human thought about it for a few seconds, and then turned back to Bolt. Not a word was said until they met nose to snout, "Are you sure you can help her?" Dustin asked as Bolt turned to leave. "I hope so, I've seen enough death to last the rest of my extended life!" he said. Mittens walked up next to him, and placed a paw on his shoulder, "It wasn't your fault Bolt, you didn't know that Dark Bolt had taken the chains off of you." she said. "But I didn't even try!" he told her. "I told you, I was to blame for that." she told him. "Hey!" Dustin said, cutting the two of them off from fighting, "Savage is still out there, alone and scared out of her sane mind! She said she's looking for her ship!" he told her. Bolt turned his head, in the direction Dustin had pointed them, "Alright, let's go." he said, not quite sure of himself. "You know what, screw this! I'm coming with you!" the human said. "Wait, what?" Mittens said. "She's scared of Bolt alright, she'll just freak out and want to kill him. I'm probably the only one she'll listen to right now!" Dustin said. "And?" Mittens asked, causing Bolt to turn to her in curiosity. "That's none of your business!" Dustin said in defense and turned around to go pack. "And what?" Bolt asked. "Really?" Mittens asked, "They're falling in love! It's obvious!" Bolt looked to Mittens, then back to where Dustin had disappeared to, and finally out the door. "How is it that girls pick up on these things faster than boys?" Bolt asked as he turned back to his wife. "It's a girl thing!" she said as she passed by him, and brushed her tail against his chin. "Oh…" he said, "I don't get it!"

Rhino sat there, pointing out his directions to someone else, "There, you see?" he asked, "I make all of my own parts, that's why it takes so long."

"Yah, well if you taught us to make said parts it wouldn't take as long." the man challenged. Rhino placed a paw to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You know what?" he said, "I need a break!"

"But you've only been working ten minutes!" the man shouted as Rhino rolled his ball away. The door shut behind the hamster, and the man kicked the ground, frustration surging through him as he held onto the blueprints they had been going over.

Rhino rolled all the way down the hall, the chain around his ball now no longer a problem to him as he trekked down to the infirmary. "GRAAA!" Angelira heard him groan as he rolled up to her. "What is wrong with these people?" he asked as he opened up his ball. She turned her head just as he found his way up the bed sheets, "I keep telling them, they won't understand! Why can't they just let me do my work?" he ranted. "What's wrong Rhino?" she asked. "Oh Ducker wants me to rebuild the GET and the O-TIP for him." Rhino said. "Oh, won't that be fun?" she asked. "Yah, except now I have a bunch of people just standing in my way!" he said. "What about me?" she asked. Rhino turned to her, his eyes saying that right now he didn't want a fight, "I'm serious!" she said, "I've helped you build your contraptions many times. Did you think I was just in the way?" Rhino opened his eyes wide, looking to her like she was crazy, "No!" he said, "No you were never in the way."

"What's so different about them?" she asked, "There's more of them, which means you have more hands to do more with."

"But, they're so…" Rhino said. "Incompetent?" Angelira guessed. Rhino turned to her, a small shock on his face, "Rhino, you have others looking up to you, they want to learn what you know to better themselves!" she said, and Rhino turned down, "Just teach them what they need to do, and make the last adjustment's yourself. That way you can find out who's really worth what they say and who you can trust with your secrets." Rhino let the idea sink into his mind, and he felt calmer instantly, "Yah!" he said, "I can do that!" and turned around, dropping off of the bed. He climbed back into the ball, making his way back to the frustrated man, "Alright!" he said, catching the attention of his workers, "Let's get this party started!" was all he needed to say.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3 Madness

**Chapter 3 – Madness**

Savage shivered as she soared through the atmosphere, the chill of the high altitude piercing right through her thin shirt and dirty jeans, 'So cold!' she thought to herself. 'How did I get to feel the cold? Was it Bolt? No. Someone else is to blame, no, not blame. Thank? Why would I thank them?' Her thoughts ran in circles around themselves, spinning her into confusion as she thought. She wanted so badly to wrap her furry wings around her body, but a quick updraft reminded her why that was a bad idea. 'I've never felt so alone.' she began, 'Why alone? I've always been by myself, but never alone!' She quickly looked up, finding a large grey tail of something floating, hidden in a cloud, "I found you, now I can stop for a while!" she said, but her mind kept going with thoughts and wonders of her madness. The tail looked strikingly like the tail of a humpback whale, and she steered herself toward it. The moment she disappeared into the cloud, the tail flipped, propelling it further into the cloud. The head came out first, the large front pincers breaking through on the sides of its large mouth. The actual head could only be described as a large spider's head, thousands of eyes covering the top with a mouth that gaped open as it cried out. The body was comprised of what looked to be a teardrop shaped beetle's shell, up top, and underneath, a solid piece of shell that was cut into sections interlocking with jagged edges. The tail looked more like a centipede, the thick round sections that curved to a point as it flowed back to the whale's tail. The cry it made was more of a deep throated wail; the pitch was low and echoed throughout the sky.

Savage tiredly walked throughout the ship, its nearly mechanical insides mixed perfectly with the living tissue of the creature it possessed. "So tired!" she said, but in her mind another battle waged. 'Something's missing, I can't sleep without it.' she thought to herself, 'Why? I'm with my ship now, so why do I still feel alone? What's missing? Who's missing?' She slowly slipped to the floor of the ship, wrapping one wing to her chest and the other around it to cover her back, 'I know who's missing!' she thought to herself, "Dustin!" her voice continued as she slipped into her dreams.

The ship seemed to cry out again, almost as if it were trying to sing its master to sleep. The people below it looked up at the sound, some beginning to panic while others ducked into the nearest building.

Dustin looked up to the sky, a longing piercing the blue blanket of light as he searched for his lost friend. "Damn!" he said suddenly. "What? Did you forget something?" Bolt asked as the three of them stopped. "No. Just worried about her I guess!" Dustin admitted. "Oh." Bolt said and turned to keep walking. "We'd better find a phone soon!" Mittens said, "We're going to have to call Ducker and tell him we're going to be late!"

"Oh yah, I guess I have to apologize to Ducker as well." Bolt said as he turned. Suddenly something slammed into the ground in front of them, causing all three of them to look up. "Holy Shit!" Dustin called out as he saw the giant ship cover them in shadow. "That's her ship?" Mittens asked in a panic. Suddenly the shell on its back opened up, spewing out thousands of bright lights with smoke trailing behind them. "Missiles!" Bolt shouted and ducked to one side. Dustin also took off, dodging the strange explosives as they came near. The explosions weren't large, more like centered only on the impact point, and when Dustin tried looking at one, all he could see was a bright light that hit the ground and detonated. "Shit!" he said and ducked behind a large piece of building. He peeked around the side, watching s Bolt and Mittens zoomed around, trying to dodge them. Mittens quickly used her Electric claws to shoot electricity at them, and it failed. "Huh?" Mittens asked as she quickly zoomed away. Bolt launched his laser vision at a few, causing them to explode prematurely. "What the heck are these things?" Mittens asked as she tried to use her electricity again. "I don't know!" Bolt told her, and grabbed one in his paws, throwing it towards one more. It exploded early, knocking the one off course and dousing it entirely. All that was left was a giant ball of waving fur, long fur, "What the…" Dustin asked as he examined it, "It's a spore!" he said, and pulled out an I–Pod to take a picture of it. "Damn, that thing's alive!" he said, and turned back to the sky. The moment he looked at the ship, it was as if it sensed him, and turned to him in mid flight, "HOLY SHIT!" he exclaimed and ran off, just as the spore exploded on its own. He was quickly sent flying from the concussion, but unharmed as he landed on his side in front of a dumpster. "Ow!" he said and turned back to the sky when it went dark. The ship sailed over him, and opened up its bottom shell. Eight large mantis like legs spread out form it's underside, letting it land smoothly on the ground, "What the hell…?" he asked as he watched a pair of large mantis pincers unfold from the front of it. "Dustin, RUN!" he heard from behind him. Bolt and Mittens both came up to him, placing themselves between him and the ship. "You don't have to tell me twice!" Dustin shouted, and stood up to run. The pincers on the ship's front started to spark, and quickly the power gathered between the tips in front of the large mouth of the beast. "Uh, oh!" Bolt said, and turned to Mittens. She quickly grabbed hold of his neck, her grass claws rooting into his fur, and he turned. Bolt caught Dustin in the back of the knee, causing him to fall onto the dog's back, "Hold on tight!" Bolt said, causing Dustin to grab his golden collar, and the three of them took off in a flash, a large ball of destructive energy following closely behind them.

When the energy hit ground, the explosion covered the city quickly, evaporating just about everything it touched as Bolt tried to out race it. The light from the blast stopped, and Bolt kept on going, never turning around one. "Ok, now we have to get onto a living ship before we get to Savage! Brilliant!" Dustin said, causing Bolt to come to a quick stop. "Living ship?" he asked as he watched Dustin flip over him. The boy landed on his back, "OW! You $%^&!" Dustin swore, and the string just kept going, "That hurt!" he finally finished. "Wow, there were a lot of words that I don't want my kids to hear in there!" Bolt responded. Mittens let herself fall to the ground as she retracted her grass claws, "What do you mean by 'Living Ship'?" she asked. "Look those explosives you two were fighting, spores from its back." he told them, "That one you knocked out of the sky, it was a giant ball of fluff that explodes on command!". Dustin turned on his I-Pod and turned it to them, showing off his picture as evidence.

"So, we're fighting an alien ship that was grown out of a space creature?" Bolt asked. "Looks like it!" Dustin said, "But if I can find a way in, I can talk to her, and maybe get her to stop attacking us." The laugh they all heard nearing the end of that sentence chilled them all to the bone, "Isn't this cute?" they heard Nightmare ask. Bolt turned around, seeing the large coyote with the mask of bone. "Wow!" he said, "That looks a lot more menacing than the bulldog!" Nightmare smiled, "Why thank you!" he said, and dashed at Bolt, tackling him to the ground, and trying hard to wrap his teeth around his neck as Bolt pushed him away with his paws. "Little help here!" Bolt shouted, and Nightmare was quickly knocked off of him by, surprisingly Dustin. The man now had a large piece of pipe in his hands, one that was once used for a traffic sign. The pipe was bent near the end now, looking more like a scythe in its shape. "Ok that I didn't expect!" Bolt said as he gathered his breath. Nightmare simply stood up, no shaking, no limping, no show of pain, just a smile that scared Dustin to his very soul. "Big mistake human!" the zombie said, and dashed at him. Dustin once again swung the rod, and missed when Nightmare ducked. Mittens tackled him before he could make a move, piercing his dead hide with her lightning claws. He didn't even flinch when the electricity ran through him, he just turned to her, "What's a matter kitty?" he asked, "Too scared to use those light claws?" and grabbed her by her scruff. He bit down so hard on her skin that his fangs pierced right through, and she yelped in pain. Bolt placed a paw against the side of the creature's jaw, stopping him from swinging his injured wife any further. With a growl and a single swipe of his paw, he wrenched the bottom jaw loose dislocating it entirely. Mittens fell to the floor, and Bolt picked her up, jumping back once to dodge Nightmare's attack, a swipe of his paw. Nightmare reached up, grabbed the lower jaw and effortlessly put it back into place. He didn't see Dustin behind him, the pipe raise high above his head. The human swung the pipe with everything he had, crashing it against the head of the beast and removing the skull from the rest of it with a sickening crack. He watched as the body fell to the earth turning into nothing more than rotten flesh, and turned his head, trying desperately to find the skull; it had disappeared in the sunlight. "Holy shit!" he said in exhaustion. "You say that a lot!" Bolt told him, "Try something else for a change!"

"Oh shut up dog!" Dustin said as he dropped the pipe, "It's been a really hard two weeks!"

The skull of Nightmare sailed through the air, his pulsing red eyes blinking in and out. The mouth never moved, almost as if it were lifeless. It crashed through a window, a large one. Inside the building, cages of animals sat around, waiting for someone to come by and pick them up, cuddle them or even just look at them so they could look back. Many of the creatures ducked into hiding when the crash happened, but the skull smashed right into one of them, and bounced, smashing again into another. Inside the first a pair of scorpions emerged, curious to the outside of their old confinement. From another, a lone mouse emerged, white with a large grey spot on his back. The mouse curiously sniffed around, trying to find anything that might be a danger. It found nothing, and ventured out to explore, crawling cautiously close to the skull that freed it. The little scorpion caught sight of the mouse and decided it was hungry. It crept closer and closer never trying to attract attention. The cautious mouse never got too close to the skull, it frightened him. The fading red eyes looked as if they could burn a hole in his soul. When the scorpion did make a noise, the mouse turned around to see it behind him. The mouse darted away, getting closer to the skull without realizing it. He stopped cold when the white bone of the mask moved, wriggling as if it were nothing but a liquid. The scorpion paid no heed, darting up to the mouse and jabbing the stinger if it's tail into the mouse's back, just as the mask lunged at them, leaving the shriveled rotten remains of a coyote head. It wrapped itself around both of them, the tail connecting the two as they melted into one creature and began to grow. What sprouted from the concoction was a giant rat, about the size of Bolt with black fur and a skull mask, but the tail was that of the scorpion. "GRAAAAAAAAAAA!" Nightmare called out as his new body finished building itself. "What is this?" he asked, and stalked up to another cage. The little rabbit inside dug even further into the bark dust, trying desperately to hide himself from the monster that had been created. He could see it, but only faintly. He marched further, trying to find something that could reflect his image better. He found a mirror in the back room, "What the heck am I?" he asked. The body was not made of flesh, but instead black exoskeleton with fine fur lining it. He knew he had bones underneath, he could feel them as they moved. "I'm, two in one?" he asked, and turned, finding a picture of a strange creature. The poster was of a movie, and the creature was made from a lion, an eagle, and a scorpion. The movie title, read, 'The Chimera'. "Chimera?" he asked looking closer at the poster. He soon smiled, or at least smiled as much as a skull of a rat can smile, "I'm a chimera!"

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4 Sorry

**Chapter 4 – Sorry**

Mittens cringed as she let the water of her own claws soak into her wounds, "Ok a little to the left!" Bolt told her, "With your left!" he added. He was forced to be her eyes as she healed the wounds on her scruff, "There!" he said, and she let her magic go to work. "It's almost dark you two, once she's done we find some kind of shelter!" Dustin told them, and faced towards a horizon with the sun getting ready to dip behind the mountains to hide from the moon as they played tag in the sky.

"Ok. Got it?" Rhino asked as he read through the instructions. "Yah!" his worker said, "Just put the receiver near the main console to minimize lag."

"Yup!" Rhino said happily, and turned to the screen as the worker finished the job. "Power on!" he said out loud, and the controls lit up, the screen turned form the black off color to a blue, and then white as it started up. "Ohhhhh!" Rhino said as he clapped excitedly, "Contact Ducker!" Suddenly a watch on the table behind him lit up, ringing like a cell phone, "Eheheheehe!" he giggled and ran up to it, he pressed a button on the side, and looked it right into the screen. His own face came up, turned to the side. "How's it working?" he asked, his voice projecting across the room. "Heheheheheheh!" he laughed again and turned, finding his head turned sideways, "AW!" he said, "I got the Imaging all wrong again." and turned back to the watch. He was about to grab hold of it when someone grabbed it, and stood it up, like it was supposed to be on someone's wrist. Rhino turned back to it, and looked at himself in the screen, "Oh!" he said as he saw himself the right way, "That's better!" he said, and turned, finding no one holding the watch. He made his way around, and found Angelira keeping the watch upright, her head bandaged with a small icepack strapped to it. "Hi!" she said. "Angelira?" he asked, "What are you doing up?"

"It's just a bump on the head Rhino!" she said, and put the watch down, "It's gone already!"

"Than why do you have an ice pack strapped to your head?" he asked. "Uh…" Angelira said as she looked up to her head, the ice pack still visible to all. "Look, it's fine, I can help!" she said, and Rhino's face softened, "I know you can, just don't push yourself too hard, ok?" he pleaded. Angelira smiled, "Ok." she agreed and let him pull her into a hug. They were brought out of it when they heard the real Ducker clear his throat, "Is your little experiment ready?" he asked. "Sure!" Rhino said and turned to grab the watch. He turned back around and handed it to Ducker, "It's all set up, just need you to put it on!" Ducker grabbed the watch from him, and lifted an eyebrow, "We already have watches that act like phones!" he said. "Not like this, it's going to monitor everything you do while clocked in, and when you say 'maintaining radio silence' it automatically switches to silent mode so that you don't have to. It also has a self repair program so if anything goes wrong it'll fix itself." the hamster told him. "What about viruses?" Ducker asked. "Oh you can't surf the web with them!" Rhino said. Everyone heard a solder behind them say, "AW!"

"It's just for communications, and info. The communicator can't tell you anything if you don't have a dispatcher willing to send it to you!" Rhino said as he turned away from the voice behind him. "I don't think we can call them dispatchers here." Ducker said. "Why not a Senshol?" they heard Kelly Nortlund ask as she approached them. "Senshol?" Ducker repeated. Kelly blushed as she explained, "Ancient Neutrosian for intelligent or keeper of knowledge!"

"I like it!" Angelira said as she smiled. "That's because you're Neutrosian!" Rhino said getting her to glare at him, "You have that proud heritage!" he followed up, and she looked to the ceiling to think about it. "Hmmm, Senshol it is. Now we need you on the other projects!" Ducker said, causing Rhino to lower his arms in anger.

"Bolt?" Mittens asked as they continued walking. "Yes Mittens?" Bolt responded. "Has Dark Bolt said anything to you lately?" Bolt turned to her a worried look on his face, "No, he hasn't." he said. "You'd tell me if he said something, right?" she asked. Bolt let his eyes soften, "Yes, I would." he said, and let her snuggle close to him. "He scared me!" she said, "It's like he just didn't care about me." Bolt simply wrapped one of his paws around her, his white fur tickling her nose as the top of her head tickled his chin. "You two can have your own room!" Dustin said as he knocked down an abandoned hotel door. He quickly made his way behind the desk, and turned to the computer. "Hey cat!" he called out. "My name is Mittens!" she corrected as she and Bolt entered in. "I know, but I have no power for this dang computer." he told her, "And it looks like all of the first floor rooms still have their locks active." She scoffed at him, and turned her head, "Tch. Fine." Dustin said and cleared his throat, "Mittens, would you…" he began, and it seems like he was struggling for the next part, "…please, help me?" he groaned. "Of course Duatin!" she said and walked up to the desk. She squeezed underneath it as Duatin lowered his head. He wasn't able to say anything when the computer turned on, and he began typing away, he grabbed two cards from a stack of them, and swiped. "Here!" he said, and handed Bolt one of the cards, "We can stay here indefinitely now!"

"Ehem!" he heard Mittens say from under the desk. It cause him to stop in his tracks, "Thanks Mittens!" he said from behind his teeth. "You're welcome!" she said, "See, that wasn't so hard!" Duatin simply growled, and stormed down the hallway. "Wait, what room do we have?" Bolt called out, but Dustin never answered. Mittens looked to the card in Bolt's paw. "Well, it can't be that hard to find it!" she said.

"Mittens, next time a guy has trouble asking for help, please don't rub it in!" Bolt said as they made it down to the end of the hall way. The key card hadn't worked for any of the rooms along the entire first floor, all except the last one. Bolt had been forced to go slow, because half way down the hall, they realized that he had gotten Mittens to swipe them too fast, and needed to start all over. "We should have just started from this end. I should have known he'd do this!" Mittens said in response. Bolt was just too tired to argue now so he just stayed quiet. Mittens grabbed the card with her mouth before she used her wind claws to scale up to the door handle of room number 179 , and slide the card key into the lock. Finally the little light turned green instead of red, and she turned the handle while Bolt pushed the door open. "I can't wait to get some sleep!" he said, and held the door open for Mittens. "Thank you Bolt!" Mittens said as she gently landed on the carpet. The room only had one large queen bed, still perfectly furnished and covered with tan bedding. Bolt jumped up on the bed, followed closely by Mittens. The two of them snuggled close together, and Bolt let his jaw open wide with a yawn, "Goodnight Mittens!" he said as he placed his chin in the back of her neck. "Goodnight Bolt!" she responded sleepily, her head resting comfortably on his closest leg.

"Mommy!" Mittens heard, her fur still pressed down by Bolt's neck as she rested peacefully. "Mommy!" the voice repeated, and then she was shaken. Mittens shot awake, Bolt lifting his head in surprise, "WHA, who, what?" he asked as his mind was rebooted. With a large yawn, he turned back to Mittens. She was looking around, remembering the look of the Astral World. "Hazel?" Bolt asked as he saw his little girl standing there. She shifted, growing up from the little white and black kitten with tiger stripes and a dog's tail, to a full grown Kit, just as beautiful as her mother. "Hi daddy!" she said. "WHA!" he started again, and jumped, "Whoa Bolt! Easy!" Mittens said as she tried to calm her husband down, "We're in the Astral World!" Bolt turned to her, worry in his eyes, "What?" he asked, "Are we dead and waiting for judgment or something?" Hazel laughed out loud as she began rolling around on her back, "Not even close daddy!" she said as she tried to stop her laughter. "Then…what's an Astral World?" he asked as he looked to his daughter.

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5 Spirit

**Chapter 5 – Spirit**

Bolt looked around, the fading images of the Earthly planes moved on by, almost as if they weren't supposed to exist at all, but till held onto that little bit of reality. He quickly recognized one particular mountain, the same one Dark Bolt first took hold. "I think I can answer that!" Bolt heard a familiar voice say. He turned to it, finding his son, the white puppy like creature with black chipmunk stripes on his back that connected to two black cat ears. "The astral world is a plane of pure psychic energy. Normally someone or something, can pull the spirits or images of others or themselves into this plane, and then shape it to resemble another, kind of like a dream." Mike said simply. Behind the kit, Bolt could see the rest of them; Shadows, the large black cat about the size of Bolt himself, Wolf, his third grey puppy son with a cat's nose, Sassy, a cat with an inverted color pattern to Mittens and Shadows' wife, Penny and her mother, and two of Shadow's children, Mir, a cat that looked strikingly like Mike except the stripes curved around her ears to connect to her eyes, and Anna, the perfect white cat. "Where's Kevin?" Bolt asked as he searched for Shadows' son, and third child. "He's not awake yet?" Mittens asked. "Awake?" Bolt asked and rose to follow Hazel and Mike as they turned around. The two of them looked around as they followed their children, recognizing areas and remembering the missions they went on. They arrived at the group, and were led to the middle, seeing Kevin, still unconscious but now looking as if the grey cat were sleeping, not nearly dead. "He's looking a little better than last time!" Mittens said. "Wait, last time? You've been here before?" Bolt asked. "How do you think I knew about the place?" she asked. Bolt let his mind wander, the question finally settling the panic that his mind had stirred up, "Good point!" he said. "Mike, you said that spirits are brought here, right?" Mittens asked. Mike simply nodded, "So where are all of your bodies?" she asked. Bolt turned to her, confusion and worry mixing together inside his mind. "We have our bodys, that's why Kevin has to recharge!" the Kit explained. "Huh?" Bolt asked, "Then how come you don't need to recharge after bringing us here?" Mike shook his head, "You're not here…In the same sense that we are!" Mike explained. "Huh?" Bolt and Mittens asked together. Wolf simply sighed, and turned to them, "Look, you two are here in spirit only, your bodies are back at the hotel!" he said, "But us, we're actually here stuck until Kevin can regain all the strength he lost when he broke us through into this Astral Plane!"

"Oh!" the two of them responded. "How is that different?" Bolt asked. "Try not to use big words Mike!" Wolf said to his brother. Mike took a cleansing breath, "It's far easier to create a spirit, or astral image, and send it to a psychic plane like this one than it is to bring a physical body into one." Mike began, "Psychic powers can be sustained easier in this plane than the real us. That's why it's so easy for me to pull you out of your sleeping bodies and bring you here! Kevin was so scared that he actually broke through the walls of the Astral World and brought us here, somehow leaving you three behind. This is why he's taking so long to recharge as well, his powers are keeping us alive in this timeless dimension; he's using and charging at the same time."

"I had no idea that he was so powerful!" Shadows said as he listened to the explanation. "He didn't want you to know, he was afraid you'd hate him or something like that." Hazel said. "So, why are we here?" Bolt asked. "I wanted to see you!" Penny said as she wrapped her dog in a big hug. "Plus we need you to be careful, I sense a huge psychic block in that alien's mind." Mike said as the human released her pet. "Psychic Block?" Bolt asked as he was set down. "It means that someone with psychic powers can't focus at all." Mike explained. "Savage!" Bolt sighed, "We need to help her quickly!"

"I'm sure it's not going to be as easy as we want it to be!" Mittens said. "Agreed!" Bolt said, "I mean she's changed right? I doubt she'll kill for no reason now!"

"We're going to have to stop her before she destroys a town with people in it while she's still out of her mind!" Mittens said, and Bolt smiled. "We'll just have to steer clear of populated areas while we find Rhino; he might have just what we need!" the dog said. Mittens smiled, "Yah, but we'll have to make sure they all know it first." she said. "We missed you too mom!" Wolf said sarcastically. Mittens turned to him, a look of mach disappointment on her face, "Let's enjoy their company until we're back on Earth!" she said to her husband. With a nod, he agreed, and turned to chat with his family and friends.

Morning came, and the sunlight shined in through the curtains, rousing the two sleeping animals. With a yawn each, Bolt and Mittens stretched out their limbs, and listened to their stomachs growl. "I hope this place has continental breakfast!" Bolt teased. Mittens, now happier from her rest, giggled and pressed her side against his, "We could go check!" she said, and Bolt licked his lips, "Or we could stay right here and wait for Dustin!" she said. Bolt would have stayed, but again their stomachs complained. "Sorry Mittens, but don't remember the last time I ate something that I'd want to throw up later!" he said. Mittens cringed a little "What exactly did Dark Bolt eat?" she asked. "You don't want to know!" Bolt told her, and went to open the door. Mittens sat there on the bed a little, letting her mid clear of the ideas she had, and cringed, "I hope he never ate that!" she said, and turned to join Bolt out in the hallway.

Savage stirred, the beeping of the ship's controls pulling her out of her dreams. "It was only a dream!" she said, and pulled her knees to her chest, "For a moment I wasn't alone. I was queen of this world, with him as my king. But I know that it's just a dream, I'm not going to rule anything anymore!" Savage wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, hugging herself as much as possible. She quickly shook off her sadness, and stood up slowly, without stretching, almost as if she had lost something precious. She stood there, wondering what was going on, the memory of Dark Bolt running through her mind, "I need to destroy him, or he'll destroy me, like he did my dream!"

'Why haven't you come for me yet?' her mind asked, 'You said you wouldn't let him hurt me.' Savage mindlessly made her way towards the front. When she arrived, it looked like a wall of flesh, until it opened. The center pulled open, like a valve opened up to let blood flow through a vein. She walked through, finding a large section of computer, meshed perfectly with the flesh of the beast, and a monitor above her, showing everything the ship looked at, 'I've seen this thousands of times, yet all I see now is an empty space.' The ship hovered over one of the destroyed cities, glancing around as if looking for something. "What are you looking for?" she whispered, and the creature seemed to answer with a loud wailing call. She let her eyes fall heavy, she had almost no desire anymore, yet she never wanted to leave either. 'What do I do? I'm lost!' she thought, and the ship began moving again, pushing itself away from the city. It cried again, trying desperately to sooth the fears of its captain.

Bolt smiled as he sat at the table, the feeling of home coming back to him. Dustin came in from the kitchen, a small grumpy frown on his face as he brought out two large plates of eggs, bacon, a small pile of hash brown and toast. "Here!" he said, and placed the plates on the table. "Enjoy your breakfast?" Bolt asked as he looked to the guy's face, finding a smudge of catsup on the corner of his lips. Dustin looked to Bolt, a surprised look on his face, until he reached his tongue out and tasted the incriminating evidence. "Shut up!" he said as he turned away, pressing his finger to the offending tell. "I'm glad you're in a better mood Dustin!" Mittens said, "And I'm sorry for making you angry yesterday." Mittens dipped her head down, grabbing a piece of bacon from the plate and bit down, letting the rest fall back to her dish. "Alright!" Dustin said, "Apology accepted! Just try to be a little more sensitive!" Mittens nodded in agreement as her and Bolt ate their meals.

**End of Chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6 Dustin

**Chapter 6 – Dustin**

Savage remained at the monitor, her head turned down as she let the ship sail around as it wished. Her mind reeled with questions as she looked to the floor for her answers. 'What do I do?' she asked herself as her ship came in to land softly on the ground, 'I take him down, that's what. Then what? I go home? No, home doesn't want me anymore. Leave? No, I have something here to keep. But do I take him with me, or do I stay?' Her mind raced again, questions piled up, driving her crazy with the want for answers. 'I can't take this anymore!' she thought to herself, 'I need answers, I need Dustin!' She quickly turned to the monitor, grabbing a large joystick in front of her, guiding the ship across the sky, 'He'll have the answers. He always has answers.' The large ship turned, making its way back toward another city, its cry still echoing through the air to try and sooth it's captain.

Bolt breathed in deep as he followed Dustin towards the city, and coughed. "What is that smell?" he asked as they found the first of the large buildings. The three of them rounded the corner, and quickly found what was offending their noses. A mass of people and animals lay dead on the ground, most stabbed through the chest, and others almost like they were disintegrating in a large green puddle. "Oh!" Bolt said in shock. "What happened here?" Mittens asked as they all moved carefully past the corpses. "They're…all dissolving!" Dustin said in the same surprise. The trail wasn't just the people, walls and brick seemed to melt under the green spray, a lamppost bowed as the acid warped and ate away at the metal. "This place is a disaster area!" Bolt said, and turned just in time to have the tail of a large scorpion woosh by, striking the ground instead of his cheek. "Lucky dog!" they all heard from the shadows of an alleyway, and out came the chimera, Nightmare. "What the…" Mittens asked as Bolt turned to the ground. The area around Nightmare's tail began to bubble as he pulled the tip out, and quickly became a puddle of green bubbles. He then turned to his cheek, finding a straight line of fur burned from the coat on his cheek. "You!" he growled, and crouched down. Nightmare and Bolt began circling each other, Bolt as low to the ground as his moving legs would let him, and Nightmare up as tall as he pleased, "You did this to those innocent people!"

"I needed the practice!" Nightmare said and let his tail strike at Bolt. The dog quickly dodged to one side, and the dance began again, "But as usual, humans provide very little challenge!"

"Hey!" Dustin called out, offended by the comment. "How did you get that form?" Bolt asked as he dodged again, jumping backwards and letting Nightmare follow him. "I discovered that if I can absorb two or more animals at once, I can mix them together to create a much more powerful creature!" he said as he circled Bolt again, and lunged, striking second with his tail. Bolt took a swipe of his own, striking the side of the tail and using his strength to push it away from him. "I must admit I underestimated the human traveling with you." Nightmare said as he lunged forward, tackling Bolt to the ground and pinning him under his powerful paws, "However, it's a mistake I'm not about to repeat!" Nightmare looked up, spying Dustin as the human tried to advance. Dustin stopped in mid step as he watched Nightmare's tail lift up to strike. "Oh SHIT!" Dustin called out as he realized who the creature's target was. Dustin fell to his back, using his arms and feet to scoot back as quickly as he could. The tail reached its height, poised ready to strike, and was quickly knocked away as something slammed into Nightmare from above. "GRAAAAAAA!" he and Bolt called out as whatever it was smashed into them. Mittens stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide as she watched her husband and the undead creature attacking him explode. "BOLT!" she called out, and listened to a familiar cry come from the sky. When she turned to the source, she found the familiar alien ship swimming through the air as the sparks of its explosives rained down from above. "Savage!" Dustin called out and got to his feet, he quickly began running around, dodging as many of the spores as he could with Mittens following his example.

"They can't, I won't let them!" Savage said as she gazed to the monitor, "I won't let them become one!" she said, and turned her head slightly. She saw him, the human traveling with Bolt and Mittens, "DUSTIN!" she called out, "STOP FIRING!" The ship quickly ceased releasing the explosives, and the remaining ones exploded harmlessly in midair. The creature of a ship let out a confused wail of a cry, as if asking its captain why.

The smoke cleared, and up came Nightmare, "I'm going to kill that thing!" he said, and was quickly grabbed by Bolt's paw, pulled back into the dust as it settled. Mittens heard several resounding cracks, and a yip from her husband, "Bolt?" she asked as she watched the dust begin to clear, and he was quickly thrown out, landing on his back shortly after. He struggled to get to his paws, a small gash in his side with what looked to be an acid burn sealing it shut. "Darn, that hurt!" he said as he finally stood up. Mittens turned back to the cleared smoke, Nightmare stood there with his exoskeleton cracked and his tail completely ripped off. The tail twitched as it lay there, almost as if it were trying to curl up on its own. Nightmare breathed deeply as he looked them in the eyes. Mittens once again locked her eyes with his, and for some reason, her vision wasn't as bad.

Bolt stood there, facing Nightmare, beat up and bleeding, but somehow, she could feel something different, a power welling up inside her.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Nightmare called out as he broke eye contact with her, and suddenly he cringed, almost as if he suddenly felt the pain that his body was sustaining, 'I can't believe this!' he thought, 'The chimera forms take up more energy than my normal forms! I have to get out of here, and find a new source of energy!' Nightmare turned away, booking it for all he was worth as he escaped his enemies. "YAH, THAT'S RIGHT!" Bolt shouted as he watched Nightmare run off, "YOU'D BETTER RUN!"

"Don't antagonize him!" Mittens said as she moved closer to him. Suddenly they all heard the pop of the ship's Missiles launch, and Dustin quickly dashed towards them.

"Yes, my pet, kill them at any cost!" she said as she watched the spores descend towards them. Suddenly she found Dustin in between them and her, "NO!" she called out, "STOP THE ATTACK!" The spores all self-destructed in midair again, causing a great flash of light as the ship took off, flying away from the battlefield with a resounding cry, one mixed with confusion and sorrow. "Why?" she asked herself, "I need to kill those animals!" Suddenly, it seemed as if she began to talk to another, she let her face contort to a different shape, one of concern, "But not if Dustin is killed too! I have to keep him alive; he's the only one who can make me happy!" She once again let her face shift, anger taking over her emotions once again, "But they're using him as a shield, I have to destroy them before they destroy me!" Again she shifted to concern, "He's number one, I have to save him!" she said, and grabbed her hair with her hands, "I'm so confused! I don't know what to do!" She heard the cry of her ship, and she noticed, it did her no good.

Dustin looked after her, watching as the ship sailed across the sky and away from him. "Bolt, stop being such a baby!" he heard Mittens say. Bolt twitched as she tried to place her paws against his side, "It just hurts when anything touches me near it Mittens!" Mittens rolled her eyes, and placed her water claws a bit further away, he twitched again, "Just get it over with!" Bolt said as he cringed, "My whole other side is going numb!" Mittens dug her claws into his fur, letting the water from them seep out and reach his wound. He quickly found himself in pain, the clear water turning not green, but a midnight black. "Looks like poison," Mittens said, "I'll have to draw it out before I can heal your side." She concentrated even harder, letting the black liquid fall towards Bolt's belly, and then drip off of him, dissolving each time as it hit the ground.

Nightmare staggered his way back to the animal shelter he had first acquired his new form, limping his way into the broken down door, "Tch!" he scoffed, "How humiliating, having to retreat because of a weakness!" He quickly turned, scanning the room of animals as they scurried to hide themselves. "Lizard!" he said and hopped up to reach his paw in and grab the biggest one he could find. The Large lizard began to bite him in defense and wriggle, wrapping its mouth around his armored leg as his paw gripped it firmly, he quickly located an empty aquarium, and tossed it inside before placing a lid on it, "Bat!" he said, as he made his way to the bat cage. He quickly opened it up, not caring as the little ones flew out to escape him, and he grabbed the largest one in the cage. "Once I'm done recharging, we'll see what you two can make me turn into!" he said, and grabbed a large rock, placing it on the lid and sticking his head into it with the bat. His body quickly fell apart, the head and leg hitting the floor of the cage as the two creatures backed away from the skull as much as they could. The bat tried but failed to exit the cage, and the lizard just curled into a corner. The eyes of the skull faded, turning into nothing but blackness as the skull lay there dormant. The bat stopped flapping as it finally came to terms with its capture, and turned to see the eyes disappear. It quietly and cautiously crept up, and placed a single claw to the skull. Nothing happened. The bat and lizard quickly sighed and watched the rest of the body dissolve into nothing but black smoke. The two animals did the only thing they could, they huddled into a far corner, and hugged each other, waiting for the skull to come alive again.

**End of Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7 Style

**Chapter 7 – Style**

"Are you sure you're all ok?" Rhino asked as he and Angelira held the phone. Angelira kept her ear against the speaker while she let Rhino talk into the mic. "Yes!" Mittens said with a sigh, "I was able to draw out the poison before it had an effect on Bolt, he's fine now. It's just…we're going to be very late getting there!"

"Late?" Rhino said after Angelira relayed the message, "Just how late?" he asked. "Several weeks at least!" Mittens told him. "She said weeks!" Angelira told the hamster. Rhino sighed, "Well, while you're out there, could you look for Private Meggans, she wasn't with us when Dark Bolt attacked the base and I'm pretty sure she didn't get lost!" he asked. "Oh, new girlfriend?" Mittens asked, and Angelira scoffed. "Hey, I'm the one listening here!" she said in anger. "What, what did she say?" Rhino asked. "Nothing!" Angelira said, and released her end of the phone to fold her arms. "NO, DON'T LET GO!" Rhino called out, and Mittens heard a loud thud, followed by Angelira struggling against something, "My bad!" the shrunken Neutrosian said. "Gotta go, Angelira's stuck under the phone!" Rhino said. Mittens chuckled and said, "Of course, goodbye!"

"Later!" Rhino responded and Mittens heard the two of them struggle to lift the phone. She chuckled again, but this time she used her wind claws to lift the phone she was using up and place it back on the receiver that was mounted on the wall. Mittens looked around her, the furnishings of the first floor apartment with beige carpet and white walls surrounded her, the classy white tiled counter she was sitting on was at first cold to the touch, but quickly warmed up. The place wasn't even furnished, like it was waiting for someone to rent it out. "Uh!" Bolt groaned from the hallway nest to her, and she heard the sound of a flushing toilet. He came out, smacking his lips and flicking his tongue, trying desperately to get rid of some flavor in his mouth, "I had no idea that you could get sick from being healed!" he said. "I told you not to try and eat it, but you did anyway!" Mittens said. "It looked and smelled like melted licorice, ok!" Bolt protested. "Did it taste like licorice?" Mittens asked coyly. Bolt stuck his tongue at her, spitting what was left of the bad taste in his mouth. "Poison is poison no matter what color it is Bolt!" she said with a smile. "You could have told me that earlier!" he said. Mittens simply rolled her eyes, "Just don't do it again!" she said. "Deal!" Bolt said in response, his voice carrying the tone of a lesson learned. "Hey, dumbass!" they heard Dustin cal out. "Gerr, I swear every time I do something stupid he intentionally makes me mad!" Bolt said, and heard a familiar laugh in the back of his head. "Get over hear I've found the answer to our travel problems." Dustin said. Mittens leapt from the counter, turning to Bolt, "It's a shame we can't stay here Bolt!" she said, "I'd have loved to have a place like this as a getaway!" she quickly brushed her tail against his chin, causing the dog to smile brightly, "_What are you smiling about?_" he heard his dark half ask. "I thought you were shut up for good!" Bolt said, causing Mittens to turn around. "Bolt?" she asked. "It's him, Dark Bolt!" the dog said, keeping his promise to her. "_I'm surprised you'd tell her, with all the threats I could have made!_" Dark Bolt said, and Bolt turned to Mittens. "Just a few seconds!" he said, and curled up, closing his eyes and entering his mind.

The door sat in front of him, the five large gashes in the metal scarring the steel as it let him view what was behind. Bolt cautiously crept up to the vault, and peered in through the scar. He found his dark half, strapped to the floor of the room, chains surrounding him, tangling him up and locking him in place. One small chain lay shattered on the ground, the same one that was once holding his mouth shut, "Not fair!" Dark Bolt said, "You're just supposed to think I've escaped, not come in and confirm it!" Bolt smiled as he saw his adversary tied to the ground of his mind, "You're no threat!" Bolt said, and disappeared from his own mind. "I CAN STILL BE A THREAT!" he called out, "I CAN STILL BE THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS, GET BACK HERE AND FACE ME YOU…YOU…COWARD!"

Bolt woke back up, looking his wife in the eyes, "Hey, I'm back!" he said with a smile. "So?" she asked, "How is he?" Bolt lifted himself from his stomach and shook off, "Still locked up, I'm sure he won't be a problem for some time!" he said and trotted towards the door, "The chain just came off of his mouth, now he won't shut up, I can still hear him yelling at me!"

"Is it giving you a headache?" Mittens asked. "Yah, a little!" Bolt responded. "HEY! Are you two coming out here or not?" they both heard Dustin call out. "But the one he's giving me is worse!" Bolt added in as they both exited the apartment.

Savage rested her head in her hands, her elbows propped up on the console in front of her. She growled as she gripped her hair in her hands, and released. "What do I do?" she asked herself, "Do I kill Dark Bolt and risk Dustin? Or do I leave the ship to rescue him and risk being killed by the dog?" Once again she grabbed her hair, scrunching it in her hands as she tugged just hard enough to cause her discomfort, hoping that an answer would come to mind. "I just wish I knew what to do! I need you here to tell me what to do next!" she said, and lifted her head. Her eyes were the size of pin holes, the sweat on her forehead plastered her bangs to her fur, and her once fine white fur had turned pale and fragile looking. "I hate not being able to do anything!" she said, and a small realization took hold, "I..can't…I can't…" she started and began to laugh, "I can't, can't do it! Can't cook, can't think. Think Savage! No, I can't!" She folded her arms around herself, "Don't touch me!" she said to no one and released herself, "I want…I wanted it all. Can't have it, no! He, he, he!" Her laughter was erratic, insane and harsh. She slid down to the ground, her arms out in front of her as she finally snapped, "I ca…can't. Don't, I don't want to, NO!" she said mostly to herself, "Dustin, Dustin! Where is my Dustin, I want my Dustin! I want it, I want it!" She quickly placed her thumb into her mouth, sucking on it as she shivered where she lay. Tears slid down from her eyes, catching in her fine white fur and washing the lines clean from so much dirt. "It's not here, I want it! I need him! He's mine! Not yours MINE!" she said with her thumb still in her mouth. Outside, the ship let out another cry, one of sorrow and pain.

"How did you find a motorcycle?" Mittens asked as she held onto Bolt. The super dog raced along side of the black and blue flamed Harley Davidson with her rooted to his back. He had to admit, it was much better with Dustin moving faster now, he enjoyed the wind in his fur. "I found it in a driveway. The owner was nothing but a pile of mush so I figured he wasn't going to use it anymore!" Dustin said, his face covered by the blue and black helmet he wore. He also had on a black leather coat and some new black boots. He also wore black gloves that gripped the handles of the bike comfortably. "So you stole it from a dead person!" Bolt translated. "Hey, would you rather I lie and say I bought it in a ghost town?" Dustin asked. Bolt growled his disapproval, but was still happy to run instead of walk now. "We'll cut the weeks down to about two days now!" Dustin said, "And after that I can use the Star Trek teleporter your friend built to make my way to Savage!"

"Rhino would flip if he heard you call it that!" Mittens said, and laughed. "What else can I call it?" Dustin asked. "How about O-TIP!" Bolt corrected. "Oh yah, like that's any better!" Dustin called out, and turned his eyes to the road, "Where to now?" he asked and turned to Mittens. "Follow us!" she said, and tugged on Bolt's shoulder. He smiled, and turned on the direction she tugged, breaking off towards an exit, leading them to the Interstate.

"AAAAAND…" Rhino called out from behind the machine, "Done!" Angelira and Rhino crawled out from underneath, Angelira with a smudge of grease on her face and Rhino wearing a miniature set of goggles and gloves, a large welding iron in his paws. "That's the last of it. Give it a try!" he said. Ducker smiled, and flicked a switch, the GET lit up, the screen overtaking the entire room at first, but quickly shrinking down to Ducker's size. "Nice work Rhino!" he said, and was quickly attracted to Angelira when she cleared her throat at him. He looked to her, found her folding her arms and tapping her miniature foot, "And Angelira!" he added. "Thank you!" she said and smiled. "Now all that's left is to get the O-TIP ready for deployment." Ducker continued, causing both Rhino and Angelira to drop their hands and eyebrows at the same time. "It has to be done!" Ducker said as he shrugged his shoulders. Angelira slapped her face with her hand, and Rhino just growled at the man, "You really have a way with words!" the hamster said and turned away from the man with the shrunken Neutrosian following closely. "What?" Ducker asked as they walked away. He then smiled as they rounded the corner of the machine. "You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" Kelly asked from behind him. "Yah, I am." ducker said, "If I can get Rhino not to trust me, then he'll make a new protocol that'll keep us in check for a long time to come, I really don't care about being either the good guy or the bad guy!" Kelly smiled brightly, "I admire that!" she said, and turned back to her pad, "I need to know how many you found wandering the tunnels!" she said into her earpiece as she walked away, "And get those monitoring camera's up and running, their supposed to be wireless!" Ducker smiled as he watched her walk away, 'What do you think Camella?' Ducker asked himself, 'How have I done, have I made you proud?'

Dustin kept his eyes on the road, watching it race by as he let his motorcycle to the running for him. Bolt let a small smile find his face as he raced alongside of the bike, itching to go just a little faster. "Don't!" was all Mittens said, and his smile vanished. Bolt stuck his tongue out, sighing with it as he let go of the thought of a race. He turned his head, trying to focus on something else. The night had fallen and they were still making their way across the Interstate, and passing up city after city. Suddenly he saw something strange, lights. Now normally lights wouldn't be so strange, in fact lights would be normal, they mean living people. But Bolt thought they were strange, lights, coming from a leveled city. "What the…" he asked, getting both Mittens and Dustin to look in the direction he was glancing. "Wait, is that…?" Mittens asked as she looked to the little blinking lights. "Humph! What of it?" Dustin asked.  
It's a camp!" Bolt said as he recognized the flicker of a fire. "Holly!" Mittens responded, and jumped off of Bolt's back, landing gracefully on the pavement, and racing off, using her lightning claws. "Well, looks like we're stopping." Bolt said and sped up to take the exit. "Meh, I needed gas anyway!" Dustin told himself, and turned down the same exit ramp, kicking it into a higher gear to arrive faster.

**End of Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8 Refuge

**Chapter 8 – Refuge**

Holly walked out from her tent, a large blue house shaped piece that had of all luxuries, a living room. She now wore dark camouflage pants and a black t-shirt with her hair tied into a loose pony tail. She looked around her, finding nothing but a flat crater of what used to be a city. She could tell that the town hall used to be here, the sign was found near her tent as she was setting it up. The night sky was clear, a far cry from what she had been seeing just three days prior. She could still remember the dark purple clouds that pulsed with black lightning as they hung perpetually overhead. The stench of evil that hung in the air as the very essence of the dark dog just hung around you, filling your soul with fear. She turned again, finding the medical tent, a large twenty man tent they were lucky to find in a destroyed sport's and outdoor's store. In fact, they were lucky to find the supplies they did have at the moment. Beef jerky, guns and ammo, some vests and lights, over seventy five different tents, and some games for the young ones to play. New cloths and plenty of blankets, air mattresses, heaters and grills alike, propane and other cooking fuels as well as first aid kits were all distributed among the survivors they had found. She made her way over to the large tent, entering in and finding a girl about her age with brown curly hair, and a bandage wrapped around her head. She had been changed into a maternity dress, the closest thing they had to hospital gown since all of the ones they had found were destroyed in a fire.

"She still out?" she asked the nurse, a pretty read head with bright blue eyes and pale skin. She had a scrub on, blue with no pattern what so ever. "No." the girl said, her voice like that of an angel, light and soft, almost shy. "Damn!" Holly said as she watched the line of the heart monitor go up and down. She listened to the hum of the generator they had found, thanking every power from above that it had survived the wreckage of the aisle they had found it in. Suddenly a man with short black hair poked his head in from outside, "Holly!" he said, "Something's coming in fast!" Holly followed him, seeing what looked like a large yellow streak making its way toward them. "Binoculars!" she called out, "And defense team, get your scopes on it!" Several men ran out, making their way to get into a line and lift their guns as they knelt down to steady themselves. Holly finally received a large pair of binoculars from the man who came to get her. She placed them to her eyes, finding it fuzzy at first but quickly seeing something she recognized, "At ease!" she called out and the men lowered their rifles, "It's Mittens!"

Mittens kept moving, starveling across the ground as she followed the road towards the light of the campfire. Her eyes easily picking through the darkness around her as she traveled towards the beckoning light. She easily saw it when Holly began running, trying to meet her in the middle. Mittens stopped her speeding at almost ten feet from her friend, and jumped, grabbing hold of Holly as they hugged. "I can't believe it, you're back!" Holly said happily. "I can barely believe I found you!" Mittens responded, and the two of them heard a skid in the dirt, followed by the roar of a loud motorcycle engine. "Uh, hello!" Bolt said as they looked to him. Mittens jumped out of Holly's arms, "Holly, this is my husband Bolt." she said as she pointed a paw to the white dog, "Bolt this is my friend and survivor, Holly!" Bolt simply waved at her, lifting a shy paw to do so. "You have one HELL of an anger management issue!" Holly said as she crossed her arms. "Yah!" Bolt said as he rubbed the back of his head with the same paw, "Sorry about that!" He was surprised when Holly knelt down, and wrapped her arms around him, "Hey, I forgive you!" she said. "_Wait, she what?_" Dark Bolt screamed from inside Bolt's head, "_So easily? That's unheard of!_"

"You look different when you're sober!" Holly said as she released him from her hug. "Huh?" Bolt asked. "_Oh, ha, ha!_" Dark Bolt said in sarcasm. "I told her and the other survivors all about what you were going through." Mittens said. "_Tattle tale!_" Dark Bolt groaned. "Not all of them, I had to fill the others in as we found them. Most didn't even know what had happened." Holly said as Dustin finally made it to the two animals. "You two can't keep leaving me behind!" he growled. "Who's the whiner?" Holly asked. "Hey, I don't whine, I complain!" Dustin countered. "That's Dustin, he's Savage's sweetheart, remember?" Mittens said, getting the human boy to growl. "Oh yah!" Holly said in realization, "You were with that alien girl with wings! What happened to her?"

"Dumbass here shot her with his laser vision and put her in the hospital!" Dustin said as he pointed to Bolt. "STOP CALLING ME NAMES!" Bolt called out. "She's out now, and trying very hard to destroy him with her ship." Dustin finished as he ignored the dog's angry plea. "Oh you mean that whale/bug/thing that flies through the sky every once in a while!" Holly said as she escorted them back to her camp. "She's been by here?" Dustin anxiously asked. "Yah several times!" Holly said. "Which way did she go?" he asked her. "She went north, but that was hours ago!" she told him and he made his way to his bike. "I don't care!" he said and sat down on his Harley. "Well at least refuel!" she said, hoping to get the man to stay just a little longer. Dustin growled and looked to the gauge. The little red needle was pointing dangerously close to the E. "Tch!" he scoffed, "Fine, but only until I'm filled up!"

"We found this girl buried in the rubble of the base. We were hoping we could get the army to help our condition but…well!" Holly said as she led both Bolt and Mittens into the medical tent. "No name, no ID, just a Jane Doe!" she said and looked up, the curly haired girl was sitting up, glancing around as the nurse checked her out. "Welcome to the world of the living!" Holly said as she approached the woman, "Now, let's start with your name!"

"Name?" she asked. "You do have a name right?" Holly asked. "Oh my gosh!" Mittens whispered. "I think so, but…I can't remember it!" she said. "What do you remember?" the nurse asked. "A bright flash of light and some pain!" she said. "Private Meggans!" Mittens said. "Um, who are you?" the brown haired girl asked. "My name is Mittens." she reminded her. "And I'm Bolt!" her husband interjected. "Bolt, Mittens." Meggans said as she looked to them both, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"_What exactly did she survive?_" Bolt heard Dark Bolt ask. "Sigma one!" Bolt responded in a whisper. "You think?" Mittens asked. "Has to be, the sight of impact is close by." Bolt told her. "_I thought I was tough! How did a mere human survive the Sigma One?_" Dark Bolt asked. "A flash of light?" Holly asked, "We found you buried under a pile of rocks! How could you seen a flash of light?"

"The catacombs!" Mittens responded. "Look, Mittens recognized you, what is your name?" Holly interjected. "Her name is Private Ashley Meggans. I met her while seeking help from the army." Mittens said, clearing the subject. "It is?" Meggans asked, "You did?" Mittens simply nodded, "Sorry, I don't remember any of that." Meggans said as she lowered her head in shame.

After almost an hour, they finally made their way out of the tent, the nurse had insisted on giving the two of them a check-up. "I feel sorry for her!" Mittens said as the three of them exited the tent. "Yah, I can't believe she survived the Sigma One." Bolt added in. "Should we tell Rhino?" Mittens asked. "I think he's going to find out anyway, look!" Bolt told her, and pointed his head towards three large busses. A large group of people were taking down tents as the sun came up, packing their things into the back of the busses. "I am such an ass!" they heard Dustin say as he staggered up to them. "And you're going to have one heck of a headache in the morning!" Bolt told him. "Yah, well so what?" the human asked and turned to find a beautiful blond girl look up at him, and wave gleefully to him. He smiled and waved back, "Oh Savage is going to kill you for that!" Mittens said. "Huh?" Dustin asked, and looked back at the girl. "Oh her!" he said, "Nothing happened we just got drunk and she kissed me, I think!" Mittens slapped her forehead with her paw, and Bolt just looked up and groaned, "Humans!" he said. "I'm not that drunk!" Dustin said, and hiccupped. "Sure!" Mittens said. Dustin growled again, and staggered, falling to his but as he tried to remain standing. "I'm such an ass!" he repeated to himself. "Yes you are!" Bolt agreed, and glared at the human.

The bat slept peacefully as it wrapped its wing around its new friend. The lizard kept one eye open, the eye pointed at the skull. The eyes still hadn't lit up, and it was beginning to doubt that the two of them would ever get out. Suddenly he heard something, a quiet shuffle as the two of them slept. The lizard opened his other eye, looking towards the cage top. There, a squirrel worked hard and trying to cut the wire from the lid, a large stag beetle using its pincers to cut through. They were accompanied by other small animals, a hedgehog that ran back and forth, hauling things like pencils or scissors towards the working animals. More squirrels that rummaged through the drawers, and plenty of other animals like skunks and raccoons, releasing the other animals from their cages. Gently, the lizard shook the bat awake, keeping an eye on the skull as they watched the other animals work. Finally, the stag beetle cut through, making a hole wide enough for the bat to fly through. He did, and landed on the top of the cage, waiting for the lizard to approach the corner. He quickly and silently spun his claw around, signaling the lizard to turn. The lizard quickly and quickly spun around, sticking its tail hp to the hole in the top. The bat and the squirrel both grabbed hold of his tail, and gently pulled as the lizard crawled up the corner backwards and upside-down. He was fully expecting the skull to light up as he reached the top, having watched plenty of monster movies thanks to the old owner of the shop. To say he was surprised when nothing happened, well, that would be lying, he was overjoyed. He smiled as he was gently set on the ground, the bat coming down with only a few flaps of his wings to rejoice with his friend.

Suddenly the eyes did shoot open, and the skull melted, seeping through the mesh of the top to wrap itself around the squirrel and the beetle, engulfing the two animals quickly. The bat and lizard both turned in horror as their rescuers were engulfed by the liquid bone, and they both took off, the bat flapping his wings hard and grabbing his friend in his claws. All of the animals abandoned the store as the squirrel and beetle both screamed. Suddenly, it went silent, and the white ball of liquid stretched, changing into a hardened shell again. This time thick with a steel like structure. Out came a fluffy tail, and the shell opened up to reveal large beetle wings. He grew to be as tall as a human, and bellowed out a screech of a roar. His long teeth attached to a strange looking skull, one mixed between a squirrel's and the stag beetle. Over his head, he had the pincers of the beetle, placed like the horns of a bull. "I LIVE AGAIN!" Nightmare called out, and turned, finding the store empty of all life except himself, "He, he, he!" he laughed and made his way to the back office again. He glanced at his reflection, and hummed, "It's not what I wanted, but I'll take it!" he smiled, and turned exiting the store, "I'd better stock up on energy!" he said as he spied a few critters scurrying around. With a quick snatch, he grabbed the hedgehog as it tried to escape, and opened his mouth as he held the poor creature up.

The bat and Lizard could only watch as Nightmare quickly devoured animal after animal, mostly whole. They turned to each other, and nodded, the bat taking silent flight as he grabbed the lizard by his back, and flew off towards what they hopped was sanctuary.

**End of Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9 Survivors

**Chapter 9 – Survivors**

Dustin could hardly stand the roar of his own motor, the refugees had taken hours to get fully packed, and thanks to his nap, he had sobered up, only to receive the hangover Bolt had warned him about. 'Damnit!' he thought to himself, 'I can't remember a thing from last night except the camp!' Dustin tried hard to ignore the headache that was forming but his efforts seemed to make it worse, 'I'm glad that the base is only a little ways away from here. Just a few more minutes!'

The bat struggled only a little as he carried the lizard with him, flapping his wings to try and fly as far as he could as fast as he could. His focus was intense as he stayed on his course, the lizard pointed sideways in his feet keeping his eyes on their rear and down to the ground. Suddenly he saw something in the rising sun, a shape that came in fast from the sky. The lizard tilted his head up, as if he were talking to the bat, and the bat turned his head down, and then behind him. Nightmare was moving fast, chasing them as they tried to escape him, finally finished with the other creatures. The bat opened his eyes wide in surprise, and dipped down, folding his wings in close to his body as he dove for the forest below. Nightmare followed. With some quick turns and narrow misses, the bat and lizard wove in and out of the branches as Nightmare just crashed right through them. In a desperate attempt, the bat moved his friend to his back, and grabbed onto a branch with his claws, swinging to the bottom of it. Nightmare let his body crash right through the branch, narrowly missing the two animals as they hung there upside-down. The bat then took off again, flapping his wings with his friend on his back, and moving through the trees easily. The early morning made it hard for Nightmare to navigate, but he didn't care, he lifted himself back up, and crashed through each tree he found. The lizard looked behind himself, finding the juggernaut as it barreled through everything in its way, slicing through just about everything with the pincers in his head. Again the bat got desperate, and dove into an open knot hole in a large tree, only to have it cut open inches below the hole. The top of the tree tumbled down, slamming into the ground with the bat and lizard still inside. The tree top then rolled down, stopping only a few feet away as it slammed into another tree. The two little animals crawled out of the tree, dizzy and disoriented but still alive. The bat recovered first, and looked up. With a shock he grabbed his friend, and jumped off of the log, letting Nightmare slam into the ground. He quickly dove down a hole in the ground, letting the deep burrow hide him for the time being. He turned around to find Nightmare's hand reach in and search.

Nightmare then pulled his hand out, and knelt down, looking for his prey. Instead he found nothing, just darkness. With an audible growl, he lifted himself up, and pointlessly scratched his skull in wonder. With a shrug, he lifted to his feet to look some were else. Inside the hole, the bat unfolded his wings, peeking out from behind the dark colored skin. With a silent sigh of relief, he set his friend down, the lizard finally regaining his equilibrium with a shake of his tiny head. They smiled at each other, and cautiously made their way to the opening.

Nightmare once again shook his head, his hunt coming up empty before he heard the rustle of a bush near where he first started. With a quick jump, he landed behind the bush, finding not the pair, but instead a large snake. With a quick swipe, he snatched the snake up and placed the head in his mouth, shoving the rest down his throat. He turned finding the bat and the lizard flying away again, and with a great leap, began flying again. It was as if the bat had disappeared with the lizard again, and Nightmare looked around for them.

The bat stayed perfectly still as he hung upside-down, letting the green of the leaves and the skin of his friend hide him. The lizard latched to the wings of the bat as he let his green scales blend into the leaves of the tree. He finally found something, a large blackberry bush that seemed to tangle around itself as it traveled towards who knows where. With a quick motion of his clawed feet, the lizard and the bat made a plan, and the lizard moved to the back of his airborne friend. Nightmare turned, finding them as they dropped, and again took flight, spotting them as they exited the safety of the tree leaves. With a dip, he followed them, and was unable to make the same turn, slamming into the blackberry bush and tangling himself in them. The bat and lizard never stayed to see if it had worked, they both flew off, leaving the struggling Nightmare behind as they flew off towards the setting moon. Nightmare roared out his anger, vowing silently his revenge.

"Finally!" Rhino said as he smiled, "It's finished!" Angelira pulled back with him, glancing at the O-TIP as they finished it. Several others looked to it as well, pride welling up in each of them as they admired their own handy work. "Nicely done!" they all heard Ducker say as he walked up to Rhino. With a quick swipe, he picked up the hamster and his ball, and pulled the chain from around it. "There, as promised!" he said and gently set him down. They were distracted from their pride when the monitor of the GET lit up, showing a motorcycle and two yellow buses plus one white city bus come to a stop outside of the front gate. "Unknown vehicles approaching, awaiting commands!" the computer said. Ducker looked to Rhino, a questioning look on his face, "I decided that it would be easier to cope if you didn't have to be at the door to know who was there!" Rhino said. With a smile, Ducker turned, only to be interrupted by Angelira, "BOLT, MITTENS!" she cried, and flew up to the screen, "Let them in computer!" she said. "Voice recognition acknowledged!" the computer voice said, "Allowing temporary access!" Ducker turned an angry look to Rhino, "I never said you were the only one who could tell the computer what to do!" he said, and rolled his ball towards the door. Ducker shook his head, and smiled, "The hamster pulled one over on me!" he said and turned to his assistant, "Ms. Nortlund, I suggest we give them a great big welcome!" Kelly smiled, "I agree sir!" she said. "Kelly!" he said as he turned away from her. "Sir?" she asked, shock in her eyes and voice. "I expect to see you there!" he said, and walked away, exiting the door. Kelly blushed, and pumped her fist into the air, "YES!" she whispered to herself.

Bolt raced in as soon as the doors opened up, finding Rhino and Angelira as they made their way to the front door. "RHINO!" Bolt called out. "BOLT!" the hamster called back, and they passed each other, turning around and coming back. Bolt wrapped his paws around the large ball as Rhino pressed himself up against the inside, like he was trying to give a hug to a much larger creature than Bolt was. "Hi Rhino!" Mittens said as she walked up to the two of them. "Hi Mittens!" Rhino said as he rolled up to her and tapped his ball to her leg. "Hey! I missed you to!" Angelira said as she flew up and landed on Bolt's back. Bolt laughed, but all of their happiness was shattered the moment they heard a small voice call out, "HELP!"

**End of Chapter 9**


	10. Chapter 10 Rescue

**Chapter 10 – Rescue**

The voice was high for a male, sort of raspy and full of panic. "What?" Dustin asked as he turned to see what Bolt and Mittens were looking at. "HELP!" the bat called out again. Suddenly, the area behind them exploded, releasing Nightmare from the ground, like he had been digging. The bat never turned around; instead he made a beeline for the facility, "HELP!" he called out again. Bolt dashed out, skidding to a stop before he let loose a shot with his laser vision. The green light slammed into Nightmare, just before he was able to grab the two animals. "Dustin, get ready to catch them!" Bolt said, and Mittens swiped her paw, causing a powerful breeze to curl around the two and push them towards him. Dustin reached out, and let the two animals fall into his chest before wrapping his arms around them to hold them to him. "Get everyone inside, we'll deal with Nightmare!" Mittens said. Dustin did just what he was told, waving his arm to guide everyone into the base for safety. Rhino came rolling out, and the large mech of a hamster emerged from around his ball, "Let's take this guy down!" he said, and made the metal hamster charge while Mittens took to the sky, and Bolt dashed forward, launching several more of his lasers.

"Stop, stop. No, can't stop. Air's to hot, can't stop. It's ice!" Savage mumbled as she let her ship roam the skies. "Oh, dark. What's in the dark? Can't see, need glasses! Glasses? I'm not thirsty! No water on board!" her ranting erratic and the twitching of her body as she tried to overcome her madness increased. "Can't see. Can't SEE! I want to see!" she said as she began slamming one of her fists into the floor of her ship. "I WANT TO SEE HIM!" she called out and found her mind focusing, "I want to see him!" she said in a much calmer tone. "I have to see him again!" she said, and lifted herself up to her feet, looking the monitor straight on. "Take me to Dustin!" she ordered. The ship turned and began heading east; following a trail that only it could see. The pain in its cry echoed throughout the skies, but once again went completely ignored by its captain.

Bolt once again hit Nightmare in the chest with his green lasers, knocking the undead monster out of the sky for just a few seconds. He quickly regained his composure and flew off with Bolt Mittens and Rhino chasing him. Rhino grabbed Bolt by the scruff, spinning around once and tossing him to the creature. Bolt almost missed, until Mittens swiped her claws, letting the wind carry her husband to Nightmare's back. With a quick breath Bolt super barked Nightmare's wings, tossing the villain into a fall. Bolt held on tight as they both tumbled to the ground, Bolt being tossed away as they slammed into the dirt and pavement. "Uh!" Bolt groaned as he stood up. "You' haven't focused!" he heard a familiar voice say from behind him. Bolt turned around just in time to catch a black furred paw to the chin. "I'M BACK BABY!" Dark Bolt called out as he rushed forward, slamming his head into Bolt's chest. Mittens and Rhino slammed everything into Nightmare's new armor as they could, "Remember, all we have to do is stall until he runs out of energy!" Mittens said, and backed up as Nightmare tried to snip her in half with the pincers in his head. "That's going to take a while!" Rhino said as the inside of his ball lit up, "My scans show an abundance of energy, enough to power a small city for a year!" "Wait, how did he get that much energy?" Mittens asked.

Dark Bolt became relentless with his attacks. Slamming his head into Bolt only to push the dog away and strike him with laser vision and then super bark him away. Bolt had almost no time to get back to his feet. "I win!" Dark Bolt growled and suddenly disappeared in a loud blast. "GOOF!" he called out. Bolt, bruised and beaten, looked to the sky, once again seeing the large whale of a ship. "Savage?" he asked himself as Dark Bolt got to his paws. Bolt struggled, climbing to his paws as well, readying himself for another onslaught of attacks, only to hear the launch of a thousand more explosive spores shoot off from the ships open back. "Oh crud!" he said, and dashed to one side, dodging one of Dark Bolt's attacks. Bolt took off, running as quickly as he could to escape the two attacking enemies. The shower of explosives rained down from everywhere, causing Mittens and Rhino to dodge the spores as they fell to the earth. "She's gone crazy" Mittens said as she breathed a stream of fire from her mouth. The spore shriveled up instead, falling to the ground as harmless ash. "BOLT, RHINO!" Mittens called out, "They burn super quick. Fire stops them from exploding!" Bolt and his dark half looked to each other, and turned their heads up, spewing fire from their mouths. Dark Bolt breathed out his green flame while Bolt released a normal flame, red and orange in color, heating the air and cooking the spores in the sky. Dark Bolt glanced at Bolt through the corner of his eye, and lowered his head to let the flames torch his adversary, "HEY!" Bolt shouted as he dodged the attack and stopped his own flame, "I think the spores are more important right now!"

"Nothing's more important than our battle for supremacy!" Dark Bolt said gleefully, and was once again tackled by Mittens. "You just can't stop yourself can you?" Mittens asked as she let Dark Bolt slide away from her and her husband. "That's the first sensible thing I've ever heard you say!" he said to her.

"I can't believe it, there are two of them now!" Savage growled as she watched Bolt fight the darker version of himself. "I can't rest, I have to destroy them both!" she told herself, and pointed to the screen. "FIRE!" she called out. The ship twisted in mid air, and opened its mouth. The scream it let out as the energy built up between the two pincers on its head was the only warning the animals had. Bolt was quickly tacked by Mittens as she used her lightning claws to push him away, and Rhino turned away from Nightmare to run as quickly as the mech could go. The pincers opened, releasing the blast of energy to sail towards the ground. Dark Bolt simply let his ears fold down to his head, "Oh shit, not again!" he said to himself, and turned to run. It seemed as if the ball of energy followed him everywhere he went, and soon slammed into the ground on top of him. "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" was all he said as he faded back into shadows, moving quickly back into Bolt's mind.

The explosion cleared, and all was steady. Savage watched with bated breath as she waited for the dust to clear. Nightmare shot out of the dust, cracks riddling his shell and exoskeleton as he let his wings beat to let him hover there, glaring at the ship. "WHAT THE…" Savage screamed, and let the ship turn around.

Nightmare shot after the ship, chasing it. The two were just as fast as each other. "Once I absorb that ship, I'll be nearly invincible!" he shouted, and raced after it.

"NO!" Savage shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" They continued their chaise, moving away from everyone else.

Bolt groaned as he lifted his head, "Oh, what hit me?" he asked. "I did, to get you away from that blast!" Mittens told him as she pressed the top of her head to the underside of his chin. "Where are we?" Bolt asked. Mittens smiled gently, "I don't really know." she said, "Our battle took us quite far away from the base, now we just have to find Rhino…" Realization hit them both at the same time, "RHINO!" they both called out, and stood up. "Where is he?" she asked. "Where was he when the blast hit?" Bolt asked in response. Suddenly they saw something, waving at them from across the impact point. Bolt picked Mittens up in one of his front legs, and raced off to meet up with whatever was waving at them.

When Bolt and Mittens arrived, Rhino was found, waving the large arm of the Rhinobot as if to tell them he was fine. "Oh!" Rhino said, and let the bot shrink into his ball, "You saw me!"

"Are you ok?" Bolt asked. "I sure am," Rhino said, "I was forced to use the Shortjump Generator in my Rhinobot to escape!" he said. "Short…Jump…Generator?" Mittens asked. "Yah, It's a short rage O-TIP that I installed into the system of my Rhinobot." he told them, "It's still in the prototype phase though, so this was its first real test." Bolt turned his head towards where the ship and Nightmare had flown off to, "Great, now she's being chased by Nightmare, and if he gets his mask on that ship…" he said. "He'll be unstoppable!" Mittens finished. "We can chase them with the O-TIP!" Rhino said in excitement, "OOOOOH! I can't wait. The new model's first test!" Bolt and Mittens turned to the hamster, "New model?" they both asked. "Angelira came up with a new recall system. Anyone it sends can also be recalled if something goes wrong or if they've been deployed with mal intent." he told them, "Just as well, anyone who's touching the one getting recalled can either be left behind or brought with, it's up to the Senshol to decide."

"Senshol?" Bolt and Mittens both asked at the same time. "I can see you two need an update, come with me and explore the wonders of Tarnildra!" Rhino told them and turned to make his way back to the base.

**End Chapter 10**


	11. Chapter 11 Travel

**Chapter 11 – Travel**

'Gotta get away!' Savage told herself as she moved through the air in her ship, 'Can't let him get my ship!' She tilted the joystick down, sending the strange creature into a dive of some sort. Nightmare followed closely, determined to get his mask around the ship. He heard a loud splash, and was quickly swept away by a large wave of salt water. His body wasn't used to it, the wet, salty liquid of the ocean. He tried moving his wings, but found that they would sooner fold than work under water. With a few pushes of his claws hands, he surfaced, looking around for the ship. "Damnit!" he told himself, and then thought of something, "No!" he told himself again, and once again dunked his head. The ship swam just like a whale, the large tail propelling it deeper and deeper into the depths that he knew he would most likely be crushed under. "Damnit." he said under water. He found his voice strange, no bubbles emerged from his mouth, and he could feel the energy in his body begin to fade. "I need a better source of energy!" he said, and pumped his arms to swim back to shore. "I hate the water!" he said.

"I hate the dark!" Mittens said as she and her friends and husband walked down a large darkened corridor. The bat and the lizard had joined them on the ground while Dustin walked behind Bolt, "You don't seem to mind it when…" Bolt began, and quickly received a glare from his wife. "Look dog, if we wanted to hear about your love life we'd ask!" Dustin said. Bolt growled as he continued down the hall, "_Can I please just have one bite of his neck?_" Dark Bolt asked, "_I promise not to swallow and I'll go for the throat, kill him quickly!_" Bolt just flattened his eyes, his annoyance beginning to grow. "_Just thought you might appreciate the bastard getting what he's asking for!_" Dark Bolt explained.

"Uh, thank you for saving us?" he heard the bat say. "Any time!" Bolt responded. "My name is Whisper. I'm a really big fan of yours!" the bat continued. "Whisper huh?" Bolt asked. "Well Whisper, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"This is Click Tock! That…THING was planning to use us like he used Shelde and Pyth." Whisper said for his lizard friend. "Who was Shelde and Pyth?" Mittens asked. Suddenly Click Tock blushed and shied away behind Whisper, "Sorry about him, he's a bit shy!" Whisper explained, "Shelde and Pyth were the scorpion and mouse he used to make that first…thing!"

"That was a mouse?" Bolt asked. Whisper and Click Tock silently nodded in sorrow. "She was so nice to talk to!" Click Tock said. His voice was soft and kind, almost childlike in sound. "Sorry!" Bolt said, and again the lizard shied away. "Click Tock had a cage next to the mice and rabbits. Shelde was the only one willing who would try and talk to him." Whisper explained. "Sorry for your loss!" Mittens said. "Whoa, whoa!" Dustin finally said, "What the hell are you and you new animal friends even saying?"

"Oh yah I forgot." Bolt said, "Clueless here can't speak animal!"

"Watch it!" Dustin countered. Mittens glared at the both of them. "You two must have some skills." Rhino said as he rolled his ball up to a door. "Well, I don't know about that…" Whisper said, and Angelira flapped her wings, leveling her eye to the hole in the wall. The light scanned her, and focused solely on her left eye. "Welcome back, Angelira Avona." the computer said, and the room lit up with a green light. "Guests detected, shall I grant them access?"

"Sure, just don't let them use anything without permission!" she responded. Dustin simply growled, "Acknowledged!" the computer said, and the wall next to the door opened up. "Ok…Didn't see that one coming!" Dustin said in surprise. "You weren't supposed to!" Rhino said with pride.

The moment they all entered the room, they were all in shock. People ran back and forth getting stations ready, the giant screen in front of them got Dustin thinking about football, and Bolt turned his head, spotting the O-TIP. With a smile, he walked on over to it, and barked. "Well done Rhino, looks like the one we had in our basement!" he said. "I like it!" Mittens said as she joined him. "Is this that…O-TIP…thing?" Dustin asked, "Yah, this is what will get us to Savage first!" Bolt said. "You mean get **me **to Savage first!" Dustin corrected. Bolt and Mittens turned to him, "Don't argue, the plan is, I go into the ship and get her out. You two and fuzzball keep that Nightmare thing off of her trail!"

"Wait, why should we go with your plan?" Bolt asked. "Because it's the only one I've heard, and it has the least amount of 'Getting You Killed' I can think of, and trust me I've had a lot of time to think about it." Dustin told him. "I didn't know you cared!" Bolt said. "Don't get me wrong, we're still not friends! But Mittens is right, I'll do anything for that alien." Dustin told the dog. Bolt lifted his eyes in surprise, thinking about what the human had said, "Alright then!" he responded, "Just don't get yourself killed in their ok?" Dustin turned away from Bolt, "Hell, I'll slap her silly if I have to!" he said, and walked towards the machine. "How does it work?" he asked. "We' need someone to operate it from this side. The senshol is kind of like a dispatcher and informant." Rhino told him. "Set me up!" Dustin said. "No one has had any experience!" Rhino told him, "You might get teleported into the ocean floor, or even a wall!"

"Hey, I believe in beginners luck!" Dustin said. "In that case, stand on the platform and take this!" Ducker said as he walked into the room. In his hand he held another of the wrist communicators. "WHAT?" Rhino shouted, "You're just going to give him one of those?"

"I wished there was something I could have done for my wife and child back then. I know time travel is impossible but I thought about it every day!" Ducker said, catching the other human man's attention, "But there is something you can do for the one you love!" Ducker said as he handed the wrist com to Dustin, "You can get in, and get her out. I can't take an opportunity like that away." Dustin looked Ducker in the eyes, searching for any kind of betrayal. He reached his hand out to grab the watch, but it was quickly pulled away, "But if you dare put any of my people at risk I'll hunt you down myself, and I'm not as nice as Bolt!" Ducker said as he nearly pressed the tip of his nose to Dustin's, the brow of his eyes curved to a downward point as he glared menacingly at the other man. "Yah, I get it!" Dustin said, and the watch was returned, allowing Dustin to grab it. "Get a position on the ship!" Ducker said as Dustin walked towards the O-TIP, strapping the watch to his left wrist. "Huh, looks pretty straight forward!" Dustin said as he walked onto the platform. "Target sighted. Calculating point of transport." said one of the solders at the computers. They had been changed, wearing instead of military uniforms, an off white shirt and slacks with a jacket over top, a badge on their left lapel showing their new ranks as was decided and named by Kelly Nortlund and Ducker. "Oh by the way, it feels funky for the first time!" Bolt shouted out. "What?" Dustin asked, right before he disappeared. "Oops!" the senshol said, "I miscalculated the speed."

"By how much?" Ducker asked. Suddenly everyone heard static over the com line, and Dustin's face appeared on screen, "Ok dumbasses! Who's the genius who landed me in this thing's ass?" he asked. "Not by much!" the senshol said. "You were right about beginner's luck!" Ducker said. "Har, har, #$%$ off!" Dustin said in response and held up his right middle finger. "Just get over to her and see if you can help her make the right choice." Ducker told him. "Do you know how long that's going to take?" Dustin asked, "This thing is huge!"

"And it's going to take longer if you don't stop complaining!" Ducker told him, "We were never able to map the inside of the creature, just keep your watch on and try to find the bridge!"

"You mean the head?" Dustin asked with sarcasm and frustration in his voice. "Look smart ass, call it what you want, you're girlfriend is up there having a psychotic breakdown!" Ducker told him, his anger beginning to show with a sigh. Dustin glared at the screen, and grumbled something in audible before the screen went dark. Bolt was chuckling the whole time with Mittens and Rhino at his sides and Angelira on his back. It stopped once Ducker turned to them, "Now it's your turn!" he said. "Actually, I'd like to make a quick stop first!" Mittens said. Ducker, Rhino, Angelira and Bolt all looked to her curiously, "To Neutros please!"

"Neutros?" Ducker asked. "You know our communication equipment won't work there!" Mittens nodded, "I know, but I've been thinking about something ever since I faced Dark Bolt that last time!" she said. Everyone turned to her, "I need to master all of my magic to be able to face Nightmare properly, I'm just going to get in the way with everyone getting stronger and me…just staying put!" she explained. "But Mittens," Bolt began, "you have gotten stronger, look at all the things you can do!"

"And look at the things I can learn!" Mittens responded softly, "I can cast spells, yes! But I don't really understand them. I need to do this Bolt!" Bolt looked into her pleading eyes, the shine of tears ready to spill let him see his own face in them. He finally sighed, "I'm going with you!" he said. "No we need you here!" Ducker said. "It'll be like we're only gone a few minutes!" Bolt told him knowing full well that it wasn't the truth, "Neutros' time frame moves much faster than ours."

"It'll be nice to see Neutros again!" Rhino said. "My home!" Angelira said, "I wonder how much it's changed in these eight Earth years?" Ducker placed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, "Uh, fine!" he said, "Lock in pre calculated coordinates for the Avona home on Neutros please!" Kelly swiped her fingers along the pad, "Pre calculated coordinates set." she said, "O-TIP is ready to transport." The four heroes climbed aboard the platform, and stood there watching it light up, "Preparing to teleport. Destination Neutros!" Kelly said as everyone heard the hum of the machine. "Good luck!" Ducker said, and they disappeared. Suddenly one of the senshols at their computer lifted their head in realization, "Wait." she said in a slight confusion, "I thought Earth was faster than Neutros!" Ducker looked to the girl, then back to the O-TIP, "DAMNIT BOLT!" he yelled!

**End Chapter 11**


	12. Chapter 12 Lies

**Chapter 12 – Lies**

Light filled the room as the four heroes appeared in a familiar house. The magically built walls of the Avona home surrounded them as the familiar room of their old Neutrosian HQ revealed itself. Bolt spotted Penny's old Com unit, and her favorite Neutrosian chair nearby, made from the deep red and sweet smelling roots of a Grountle tree and a deep green Furnishmoss. "I can't believe it's still here!" Angelira said as she began flying around the room. "Angelira?" they all heard a familiar voice call out. Angelira let her eyes light up like the sun, her memory and happiness skyrocketing with excitement, "LONA!" she called out and flew towards the door quickly. The other Neutrosian slowly opened the door, her hair cut down to be just past her shoulders, the large wings on her back more muscular than before and the feathers thicker. "ANGLEIRA!" Lona called out, and emerged completely from the door. She had on a large shimmering silver dress, a nightgown, and her stomach bulged out, showing something that Mittens could remember feeling, "Congratulations!" said the cat. "Oh my gosh!" Angelira called out as she stopped in mid air and looked down. Bolt simply smiled and pressed his side up to Mittens. Lona didn't even waist time, she snatched her shrunken sister out of the air, and pressed her to her chest in a large hug, "Oh look at you!" she said, "You look like a doll!"

"Thanks…I think!" Angelira said in a strained voice as she struggled against her sister's grip. "Sorry!" Lona said as she let go, "I'm a little out of sorts!" Angelira gasped for breath as she floated down to the ground. "I can tell!" Mittens said as she walked up to Lona. "Mittens!" she said, and saw the cat's husband close by, "BOLT!" With that simple cry, they could hear the thunderous laughter of Mr. Avona from everywhere at once. "My boy!" he called out as he entered into the room, "You've finally returned!"

"Good to see you as well Mr. Avona!" Bolt said, and turned to Lona, "So who's the lucky man?" Mr. Avona laughed as he wrapped an arm around his right sized daughter, "Lona here has taken a fancy to one of the humans that arrived not long ago haven't you?" Lona turned beet red with embarrassment as she placed her hands to her face. "Man has a funny name, Bob!" the Neutrosian man said. Bolt turned to his wife with confusion in his eyes, "Uh!" he said and turned back to the head of the house, "Bob is a common name on Earth!" Mr. Avona laughed again, "So I've heard!" he said and patted Lona on the back, "She's living with us until her new husband finds a plot of land he can purchase for the home!"

"Hope he's not a deadbeat." Mittens said, and narrowed her eyes to her husband. "He's not." Lona said, "He's nearby actually, working and staying at one of the new hotels you humans showed us how to make."

"A hotel huh?" Bolt asked, "What's he do?" Lona smiled, almost proud of her new love, "He has acquired the title of lead receptionist!" she said. "So the whole O-TIP enterprise really teleports people here for vacations and work?" Mittens followed up. "Yes!" was all Lona said, and bent forward with a small grunt and placed a hand to her bulging stomach, "That was some kick!"

"Can I feel?" Angelira asked as she flew back up. "Sure!" her sister said, and Angelira pined herself against the belly. "I feel it!" she said and giggled. Lona giggled as well, leaving the girls' father to travel to the guardians, "I expect this isn't a friendly visit." he said quietly. Mittens looked to the floor, "That's right!" she said, "I need you to teach me how to master all of my magic quickly!"

"I'm afraid that is impossible!" he said. Mittens looked to him in shock, "What?" she asked. "No one person on Neutros can teach you how your body can master magic." he told her, "And certainly not as quickly as you might think. It takes us Neutrosian years to master our own magic. That would mean decades in your world." Mittens turned to the ground, "So I only have one real option if I'm to get strong enough in time!" she said and lifted her head to look the man in the eyes, "Point me toward the Madness Caves!" Angelira and Lona instantly stopped talking to each other, and Mr. Avona stood to his feet, "I shall not send you to your doom!" he said. "I'm not asking you to!" Mittens said as he turned around, "But the Madness caves are the only way for me to truly master shadow magic!"

"I'll not point you anywhere!" he said, "Especially not to those cursed caves!"

"Mittens…" Bolt began and Mittens lifted her paw. "I can get through them!" she said, "I'm a cat, I can see in the dark!" She knew he had no idea of the caves, he had not been there during the conversation. "What's so special about a set of caves?" he asked. Before anyone could answer, Mittens spoke up, "They're supposed to be filled with the power of darkness, anyone who can navigate them will master shadow magic in seconds." she said. "But, wouldn't light magic work just fine?" Bolt asked. "Shadow retreats from light Bolt, the idea is to navigate the caves in the dark." she told him. Bolt seemed satisfied with this answer, "Well where are they?" he asked. Once again Mittens spoke up before the others leading him out of the room, "They're in some kind of jungle," she said as they exited the room, "We'll have to use the Neutrosian atlas to find it." she said as her voice began to disappear down the hall. "Did Mittens just lie to Bolt?" Angelira asked in surprise. "How did she even know of those caves?" Lona asked. "I have a small idea of the answer!" Mr. Avona said as he glared to his shrunken daughter. Angelira twitched in a nervous realization, "I might have told her about them…once!" she said softly, and then uncurled, "But I never thought she's actually want to go **into** the caves!"

"Desperation is a motivator to both righteous and wicked ends." Mr. Avona told her, and scooped her up in his hands, "It wasn't your fault my daughter," he told her as he gently pressed her to his shoulder, "Whatever is happening on Earth must be pushing the Guardians to their limits."

"How did Mittens learn magic?" Lona asked. "It's the souls!" Angelira said as she was released from her father, "They came back to help in Earth's hour of need! And trust me, even that might not be enough." Suddenly they heard the frantic breath of one of the servants come rushing in, "Sir. I'm sorry, the Magic and Power Guardians have escaped through the library window for some reason!" she said. "WHAT?" he asked. "They were looking at the page in the Map Book with the Jungles of Haroket page opened up." she told them and showed him the page. "Mittens, you fool of a cat!" he said, and stomped his way to his room, "Angelira, Rhino, I shall accompany you to the Jungles, but if Mittens has entered the caves, she is on her own!" Rhino nodded, and the two of them made their way to follow the large jolly man.

Bolt came to a quick stop, the thick jungle trees were over grown with a black vine that sprouted purple flowers every foot or so. The trees themselves were crooked, bent and twisted. The red bark reminded Bolt of blood as the trees tried their hardest to travel up in a straight line. On the ground, ferns that he could remember from Earth sat hiding whatever was behind them. He gulped down his fear, "We have to go in there?" he asked. "Y…yes Bolt." she said and swallowed her pride, literally, "We do. Come on!" Bolt lifted one of his paws as he hears the snap of a twig somewhere in the jungle,, he searched for it with his eyes for a second, and turned back to catch up to Mittens before she disappeared on him. The further they went into the jungle the darker the atmosphere got, "What exactly does Haroket mean?" Bolt asked finally. "I'm not sure!" Mittens told him, "I always assumed it was a name!"

"Yah," Bolt said, "But the name of what, or who?" Again a twig snapped behind them, "We're being tailed!" Mittens said. "I hate extra shadows!" Bolt said, and Mittens nodded before moving on. "It's just a shame the map didn't pin point the caves!" Mittens said after a while. "The text said the caves only show themselves to those lost in the jungle!" Bolt told her, "Maybe it's magic!"

"Magic huh?" Mittens asked, and continued on her way. Bolt quickly turned around, spotting something dart into the shadows. He growled menacingly, and turned again, following his wife through the trees and ferns.

"I hope she knows what she's doing!" Rhino said as he sat there waiting for the Avona's O-TIP to warm up. "You and me both!" Angelira agreed. Lona sat at the controls, holding her stomach with one hand and typed with the other. "Thank you Lona, please be careful while we are away!" Mr. Avona said as he hugged her. "I will father!" she said, and was released from his grip. The large Neutrosian made his way to the platform, "Send us!" he said upon arriving, and the team vanished.

"Well, we're good and lost!" Bolt said as he used his paw to squash a rather large Mosquitodragon. The thing looked like a small dragon, thin mosquito wings and a long needle like straw on the end of its face, though it was only centimeters in size. The large one was red, and it fell to the ground quickly. "You're right." Mittens agreed, "I can't even tell where the sun is!" Bolt swatted another Mosquitodragon, catching this one before it landed on him. He hit the insect hard enough to send it flying, disappearing into the shadow of a nearby boulder. "What the…" Bolt asked. "What?" Mittens responded as she had not seen it. "The, Mosquitodragon, just sorta…!" Bolt tried, and then picked up a small rock. He quickly tossed it to the boulder's shadow, and it disappeared. "Oh, I should have known!" Mittens said as she saw it, "The Shadow Phase spell! Cave's are a bit different on Neutros, the word literally means 'Underground Room'!"

"So?" Bolt asked. "So, the entrance could be anything!" she said, "Even the shadows of something large!" Mittens made her way to the shadow, peering into it as she tried to guess what was going on inside. With a swallow, she turned, "I'm sorry for lying to you Bolt!" she said, and dove into the shadow. "Wait, lying to me?" he asked and was about to follow when he was grabbed by the hand of Mr. Avona, "You cannot follow my friend!" he said, and looked to the shadow, "Only mages willing to dive into the darkness of shadow magic can emerge from the caves."

"Then what did she lie to me about?" Bolt asked, and again heard the bushes move, for something a lot larger than a Mosquitodragon. "She told you she could see with her cat eyes!" Angelira said as large twisted versions of animals began appearing from the foliage, some half dead, and others made of nothing but shadows, "The truth is, even animal eyes can't see in there."

"What about her magic, I mean, all she has to do is use her light claws right?" Bolt asked as he shot one of the zombies with his laser vision. "Nothing works in there!" Rhino told him, "Spell circles, incantations, magic doesn't exist in those caves!"

**End of Chapter 12**


	13. Chapter 13 Blackness

**Chapter 13 – Blackness**

Mittens could barely feel the whiskers on her face as they brushed up against something, her head twitched just right, dodging something she could not see. 'Where am I?' she asked herself as she continued to walk, 'What am I doing here?'

"What do you mean magic doesn't exist in there?" Bolt asked as he jumped up to grab one of the zombies by the scruff and toss him into one of the others. Mr. Avona quickly slashed at another with the sword he had in his hand, "Shadow Magic is not the power not of destruction, but of nothingness. It is the opposite of creation, therefore…" he told Bolt as he slashed at another, severing the head, "…nothing can exist!" Angelira lifted herself up high into the air, letting one of the shadow monsters follow her. She let it get closer, and closer, then she darted away, forcing the creature to face the sun as it rose up from behind the mountains. The creature lifted its arms, trying to block the light from entering its eyes. It did nothing, the creature dissolved into nothing within seconds of touching the light. "Light!" Angelira told herself, and flew back down under the canopy of trees. "Shine some light at them!" she called out to Rhino. The hamster nodded as he used his Rhinobot's arms to tear one of the monsters in half. A few taps of his claws to his holographic computer and suddenly, the ball he was in lit up from behind, shinning into the face of a rather large bear shaped shadow. The creature screeched, and like the first, dissolved into nothing. Bolt turned back to the cave, "Mittens!" he whispered in worry, and was once again forced to fight off some form of dark creation. "Light trumps Shadow, and Shadow trumps Light, yet each cannot exist without the other!" Rhino said as he turned his light to sweep the field, "I think you're wrong about Shadow magic being the power of nothingness!"

Deep inside the caves, Mittens continued to walk down what she hoped was a path. 'What's going on?' she asked herself, and quickly found herself face first into something. "I'm sorry, I was just…"she began, but found no words escape her lips. 'That's weird!' she thought, 'I could have sworn I could talk!' She placed a paw up against the thing she walked into, it felt hard under her pad, pitted with tiny holes, and round. 'I think I know this shape!' she told herself, and used her other paw to feel the object as well. It curved around the top, and jetted down into ten jagged points. The fronts were flat while the others seemed to come to several points. At the front, two large holes embedded themselves into it near the top while two small holes closer to the middle and down form them had been shaped into triangles, 'NO!' she thought as she recognized a human skull. She quickly tried backing up, but found herself tripping over a leg bond. 'That's a…' she began thinking, and backed up into another skull. She ran, and the faster she ran, the more skulls she bumped into. Somewhere along the way, she was sure she was standing on a pile of bones. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, though no sound was heard. She wanted to extract her Fireclaws, if not for protection then just for light. They never showed up. She then tried her Windclaws to fly away, but found herself grounded instead. Grassclaws, Waterclaws, Earthclaws, nothing worked for her. Finally the ground beneath her paws changed back to ground, and she ran into what felt like a wall. Mittens quickly curled up into a ball, shivering in fright. 'I don't want to die!' she thought. "Aw, poor baby!" she heard a familiar voice say. Suddenly the glowing red eyes of Nightmare appeared. "Go away!" she tried to say, but again no sound was heard.

Bolt shot another of the creatures with his laser eyes, piercing right through it and causing it to vanish entirely. "_Tch!_" he heard Dark Bolt say, "_I hate zombies, why not just set them on fire like in that movie Wolf tricked you into watching!_" Bolt turned his head and super barked another, "Oh yah, and set the whole jungle on fire with us in the middle of it?" he asked harshly. "What?" Mr. Avona asked. "Don't mind him, he's just talking to Dark Bolt, the evil trapped inside his head!" Angelira told him. "_You'll survive! Just let the others die!_" Dark Bolt said. "I can't do that, besides I'm bulletproof not fire retardant!" his light side told him. Dark Bolt went silent for a second, "_Oh, right._" he said finally, "_Good point!_" Bolt lunged to the side, dodging a rather large and obnoxious shadow and let his laser vision pierce right through it. Bolt was quickly tackled from the side, and there on his chest, sat Dark Bolt, grinning ear to ear. "Wait, I thought you were stuck in my head!" Bolt said. "_I am!_" Dark Bolt said from inside his head, "_That's not me!_" Bolt watched as the shadow let his eyes light up, and Rhino's arm quickly get in the way. The laser's bounced off the metal surface, piercing the Dark Bolt in the chest, and destroying it. Angelira looked around watching the rest simply dissolve as the sunlight peeked through the trees, "Ok!" she said, "Day two, and still no Mittens!"

"These things…zombies I believe you called them…only come out at night?" Mr. Avona asked. "Yah!" Bolt said, "Sure seems that way!" Bolt could hear Dark Bolt inside him, scoffing with anger, "_That didn't even look like me!_" he said. Bolt couldn't help it, he laughed as the comment. "_What, what's so funny?_" Dark Bolt asked. "Nothing, never mind!" bolt responded and then turned back to the cave. "Come one Mittens!" he called into it, "Come on back to me!"

"Mittens!" she heard Bolt call out from behind Nightmare, "Come back to me!" Nightmare turned, surprised at the sound that traveled into the caves, "That's not possible!" Nightmare said, "No one has ever made a sound in here, even from the outside!"

'I know that voice!' Mittens thought to herself, "BOLT!" she cried out instinctively, and again no sound was made. "Give it up, sound isn't allowed to echo in these chambers." Nightmare said. 'Then how are you talking?' she asked inside her mind, and again called out, "BOLT!" with no better results. "Sound is a form of life, and all life inside these shadows eventually ends!" Nightmare said, and again heard Bolt's vice call out. "Mittens, can you hear me?" he heard the dog shout. The red glowing eyes turned back to the sound of the dog's voice. "Even he can't live." the eyes said, "Bodies rot, sound falls on deaf ears, and even memories fade into nothing!"

"Memories?" Mittens asked out loud, again no sound was made. "Yes!" Nightmare said, "Even memories!" Mittens could feel something slip from her, a memory, a name, even the face of the voice that called out to her. "MITTENS!" the voice said, "Come back to me!"

'I know that voice!' she said, and closed her eyes, trying hard to remember. "What are you doing?" the eyes asked teasingly. She ignored it, searching her mind for the answer to her questions.

It wasn't a memory that helped her more like the feeling of a memory. She could feel Bolt's lips as they pressed themselves to hers, the warmth of his fur. She suddenly felt sick and a small kick in her stomach. A picture was formed in her mind, the picture of her, sitting with a white dog and three strange little animals. "You can't take my heart!" Mittens said to the eyes, finally letting her voice echo through the caves. Nightmare's eyes opened wide, "That's impossible!" he said, "My shadow should have enveloped you completely!"

"You were right, all life ends, but not in darkness!" she said. The moment she said those words, the darkness fled from her, leaving her in a space of white nothingness. The light didn't blind her, and yet it was bright, she couldn't tell what was in front of her. The eyes opened again, "This is where you will end up." he said, "No life, not sound, no shadow no light! I can grant you something more!"

"Pass!" Mittens said quickly and lifted one of her paws. Out came a set of light claws, "IMPOSSIBLE!" Nightmare said, and she reached out, piercing his eyes with two of them. The light flashed, and the room changed, fading into a normal cave with an array of books lining a set of wooden shelves grown into the walls. A large cauldron sat in the middle of the room boiling with some kind of black concoction, and there rubbing his eyes with his hands sat a Neutrosian man. The long black robe his wore looked ancient, as did the long white beard he grew on his face. His head was crinkled and bald with age of centuries, and his skin was pale, like he hadn't seen the sun in just as many years. "Ow, ow, ow!" the old man cried with a high cranky voice, "How did you do that?"

"I'd had a feeling that something wasn't right!" Mittens said.

"Uh, does that look right to you?" Bolt asked as he now stared at the large entrance of a cave. The bolder had disappeared, and up from the ground had come the entrance of a real cave, with a mountain attached to its back. At the front of the cave, six symbols were etched into the stone, each surrounded by a circle that looked strikingly like the sun. "Those are light spell circles!" Mr. Avona said. "Ancient light spell circles!" Angelira said, "Even older than the warriors!"

"How can you tell?" Bolt asked. "These are the seals of some very powerful light sorcerers!" Rhino suddenly said, "By comparing them to the written texts of Neutros…" Bolt got nervous when his friend paused, the ears on Rhino folded down as he read the holographic report, "The only known match is a scary ghost story that was supposed to have been created just to scare children into not going into the jungle!" the hamster said. "The Necromancer!" Mr. Avona and Angelira said at the same time.

**End of Chapter 13**


	14. Chapter 14 Necromancy

**Chapter 14 – Necromancy**

"Necromancer?" Bolt asked, "Like, bring back the dead and use them as monsters, Necromancer?" He could hear the dark dog in his head scoff, "_Do you know of any other Necromancer?_" he asked. "Something like that!" Angelira said and turned to her father. "According to the text in the story," Rhino began, "The Necromancer is a powerful Dark magic sorcerer who found the key to immortality by draining the souls of others. It's said he can use monsters to lure you to his layer that six light sorcerers sealed up centuries ago and steal your soul to keep himself alive."

"_Uh oh!_" Dark Bolt said. "MITTENS!" Bolt called out, and darted into the cave entrance. "What'll we do?" Angelira asked as she let the dog zoom into the darkness.

The Necromancer stood to his feet, his hands still rubbing his sore eyes. "That wasn't fair!" he said, "You're supposed to be scared of me!" Mittens chuckled a little "Why would I be scared of you?" she asked. He finally let go of his eyes, allowing them to adjust as the pain dulled away, "Because I'm the Necromancer, I use your worst fears against you!" he said. Mittens lifted one of her eyebrows in confusion, "Necromancer?" she asked, "I thought that was just a human thing!"

"What's a human?" he asked and looked to his cauldron. "Mittens!" they hard Bolt call out as he raced down the caves. Mittens turned to the doorway, and called out, "In here!" Just as she said the last word, the door slammed shut in front of her. "No one will interfere with…" the Necromancer began, and they both heard the door shake with a large slam against it. "What was that?" the Necromancer asked. "That's…" Mittens began, and the door came down, with Bolt standing on top of it, "…my husband!" Bolt let out a growl when he saw the sorcerer, stalking up to him. "Bolt!" Mittens called out. Bolt stopped his growls, and turned to his wife. "SIT!" she finished. Bolt looked to the ground, then back up to the Necromancer. He glared, and planted it himself right there. "He's really friendly once you get to know him." she said, "And you don't threaten me." Bolt let out another growl as he pinned his ears to his head, keeping his haunches on the ground. "How…" the Necromancer asked as he eyed Bolt, "How did you get in here?" The sorcerer turned around, planting his hands to the walls of his cave. "It can't be!" he said, and looked up. Bolt and Mittens did the same, finding a circle made up of six other circles, exactly like the ones Bolt saw on the front. "That can't be good!" Bolt said as he saw a large crack in the ceiling of the cave. The crack ran right through the point where all six circles overlapped, and ran all the way down to the other end. The Necromancer smiled, laughing as he realized something, "I'm free!" he said. "You're right Bolt!" Mittens said, "This isn't good at all!" The Necromancer struggled to breath as he laughed, "When the darkness…HA ,HA…looks into…HA, HA…the light…HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!" Mittens and Bolt looked to each other, and then back to the Necromancer, "I can't believe it!" he said happily, "They saw you freeing me!"

"Uh?" Mittens asked as she stared at the finger the madman had pointed at her. "When the darkness looks into the light! That is what they said would set me free." he said. "Now I can take this world and rule it for eternity, just as I was destined to do!" the Neutrosian said. "Ok, classic psycho." Bolt said and stood up. "But first, I must thank you for such a wonderful gift!" the Necromancer said, and reached into his cauldron. When he pulled his hand out, it held a large ball of black liquid, and he tossed it at them. Bolt and Mittens separated, the goop slamming to the ground in between them, "What is that stuff?" Bolt asked. "That is the decay of souls!" the Necromancer explained as he reached in again, "The very essence left behind from those I have ensnared and drained of their life force!" Again he hurled some at Mittens, reaching in quickly with his other hand to fling some at Bolt. They both dodged as he once again reached in to grab more, "It's also the main ingredient in a potion that transfers that life energy. This cauldron is what's been keeping me alive!" he said, and tossed more at the animals. "I will steal the life force from you both, and the magic from the cat. That impossible magic that defies even the shadows!"

"If that's the case then I'll just get rid of it!" Bolt shouted and charged in, slamming his head into the cauldron. The speed in which he traveled was almost as if time had slowed to a stop, his head slamming into the pot and sending it off of the fire it sat on. He didn't see Mittens until it was too late, the cauldron covering her and submerging her in the black liquid. "MITTENS!" he called out as the pot fell to the ground and dumped its contents onto the floor, including a very out of breath and sticky black cat. "Mittens!" Bolt said and ran up to her. The Necromancer ran for the door, so Bolt got in his way. "How do I reverse it?" he asked only to receive laughter from the Necromancer, "It can't be reversed once it's started." he said and turned to the cat. Her eyes began glowing brightly, her body lifting into the air as the goop began soaking into her, "What?" the sorcerer shouted, "NO! This can't be happening!" The magic around Mittens popped, spreading around the room, and cracking the walls, "That's not possible, the essence can't let you master magic unless you've been…dead before!" the Necromancer said in shock, and his cave began to rumble. "Come on Mittens!" Bolt said as he zoomed up to her, "We're out of here!" and grabbed her by the collar, zooming out of the cave as the rocks came down. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Necromancer called out as the rocks rained down on him.

Bolt came zooming out, dust and rocks following him as he passed by his three friends. "BROVO my friends!" Mr. Avona shouted as he raced to them, "What did you find in those cursed caves?"

"You don't want to know!" Bolt said, and they all felt the ground beneath them rumble, as if something were trying to escape it, "But I have a feeling you're going to find out!" The cave collapsed in, and the ground erupted at the same time. A giant head of the Necromancer emerged, the beard and cloak followed until his pointed shoes lifted out, stomping on the ground as it lifted itself up, "Fine!" it said, the voice echoing across the jungle, "I'll just steal the life force from the six circles that kept me chained to this cave!" The figure had to be almost as tall as he remembered Dragoon to be, "Face my power as you see your fate!" the Necromancer said. Suddenly from below the ground, skeletons, and dead animals reached up, rearranging themselves into two legged creatures. The skeletons from inside the cave, popped out of the ground in pieces, reassembling themselves as they saw fit. "You cannot defeat what has already died!" he said, and pointed to the group. "Oh snap!" Bolt said, and turned, letting his friends grab him from behind before he took off, looking for a much more open area. "I thought the Necromancer was just a children's story!" Angelira said as Bolt stopped near a town. "So did I my daughter!" her father said. "_Ok, I'll admit it. That guy needs to be stopped!_" Bolt heard his dark half say, "_Just give me a second!_" and bolt looked down, watching as his shadow emerged from underneath him, forming the same shape as himself. "OK!" Dark Bolt said, "What's the plan?" He turned to the others, finding nothing but disapproving glares and one confused look, "WHAT?" he growled. "Give us one reason to trust you!" Angelira said. "How about I haven't attacked Bolt yet!" he said, "I'll never pass up a chance to send him as deep into my mind as possible, but right now we have something more important to deal with!" Bolt, Angelira and Rhino both looked to him with surprise, "Don't look at me like that!" he said angrily, "I'm going to be the one to take this world as his own, and I'm **NOT** going to let some stupid old fart beat me to it!"

"Tch!" Rhino said, "Figures!" Dark Bolt was just about to threaten the little hamster, but looked up behind him instead, "We have a problem!" he said. Rhino turned around, finding them all next to a cemetery with bone and fresh buried hands reaching out of the dirt to come to the surface. "Who knew?" Bolt said as Dark Bolt gave him a dirty look. Rhino let his Rhinobot emerge and Angelira flew next to her father, "You can wake up any time now Mittens!" Bolt said to his unconscious wife, and Dark Bolt moved forward Growling at the undead puppets that looked ready to kill them. "His power is strong enough to have an effect this far away?" Rhino asked. "He was said to be the first master of shadows." Mr. Avona explained, "Looks as if he hasn't lost his touch!" The Neutrosian turned to Bolt, "Protect her with your life!" he shouted and raced forward, his sword in hand and his daughter flying next to him. "Hey mutt!" he heard Dark Bolt say as Rhino charged in as well, "Take care of our wife!" Bolt looked to his dark half as if he had gone mad, "You can ask her why I said that later!" Dark Bolt said and dashed in, spewing his greed fire at anything that moved and looked dead. "Come on Mittens!" he pleaded as he shifted her to a more comfortable position, "Come back to me!"

**End of Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 15 Six

**Chapter 15 – Six**

Bolt continued to cuddle his wife as his friends and dark half fought off the undead horde. Each time Mr. Avona sliced off the head of one of the skeletons it would just go chase it, letting another skeleton take his place. "There is no end to this!" the Neutrosian said as he clashed swords with the skeleton of a dead warrior. Angelira flew over head, distracting as many of the undead enemies as she could without getting caught. "Do you think it'll be like those Earth movies?" she asked. "I doubt!" Rhino responded as he smashed a corpse under his mechanical paw, "These zombies just want to kill us, not eat our brains!" He heard the moan of the dead as they came back, most of the zombies trying to surround him like in the movies, "But I could be wrong!" he added in. Dark Bolt let the fire from his mouth end, breathing deep as he let his breath return, "Just focus you nerds!" he said and again torched more of the enemies. "I dare you to call me that again!" Angelira said as she smoothly weaved between hands, "NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!" he responded to her dismay, and shot one of the skeletons in the head with his eyes lasers. "Smartalek!" she responded as she led a group of them into his flame.

Bolt flinched as his dark self let lose another stream of flame, and turned back to his unconscious wife, "Mittens!" he said, "Come on, whatever you're doing, you need to come back!"

"Mittens!" she heard from all around her. 'Bolt!' she thought to herself as she just lay there, curled into a small ball of fur. "Come on, whatever you're doing, you need to come back!" she heard him say. 'I'm trying!' she thought to herself, 'But I can't seem to move, no matter how much I try. I'm scared!'

"Are you the one who will release us?" she heard. She quickly found her eyes able to open, and in front of her she found a collection of spirits, several hundred of faceless Neutrosians that shined with a dull blue light of the mist they were made from. 'Excuse me?' her mind asked. "We have been promised freedom before, what makes this creature any different?" one of the females asked. "She has seen us as we wandered in the darkness." another said. 'Wait, that was all of you I saw in the astral world?' Mittens asked, though her mouth would not move. "Her destiny was to join us, and yet she denied it so." one of the spirits said, "She survived, and came back."

"That doesn't mean anything!" another female said, "It could be a trick to get us to release her!" Suddenly Mittens let her eyes fly open, 'You're all holding me here?' she asked. "If you would let go of the voice then maybe we could hear her side of the story!" said a spunky little boy. "I don't want to hear her side of the story, it's always the same." the female said, "They stumbled into the jungle by accident, fell into the caves and just want to go home!"

Mittens turned on her chest, struggling against whatever power was holding her there. The spirits turned in shock, surprise evident in their startled gasps. "That' can't be right?" one of the men said. "You're not holding her hard enough!" the female said as she turned to four other men. "We're holding each leg as tightly as we can!" one of the men said. "You…can't…" Mittens began saying, her voice raspy and strained. "You have her voice!" one of them said, and the female looked on in surprise. "…Keep…me…here!" Mittens finished. "And why not?" the female said, and lifted her hand, squeezing it shut, and tightening her grip on Mitten's voice. "Oh yah real smart!" the boy said, "Ask her a question and don't let her answer!"

"Silence boy!" the female said. "No!" was all the boy said, and waved his hand in front of Mittens. Her tail instantly began to feel lighter. "What are you doing?" the woman asked. "I'm letting her go!" he said, "You can't just keep her here because you want a little revenge on someone else!" The four men and another three women looked to each other, listening to the boy's words. "Don't you dare!" was all the woman said, and the seven of them looked to her. "Is this the reason we've all been following you?" One of the men asked, and waved his hand, releasing Mittens' right front leg. Mittens could almost see the fear on the woman's missing face, as if she had eyes as big as softballs at the thought of being betrayed. "To get revenge?" one of the women asked, "On whom?" and passed her hand in front of Mittens, letting her go of her chest. Mittens found it much easier to breath now. "The Necromancer?" another of the men asked, and waved his hand, releasing Mittens' left back leg. "You're husband?" another man asked, releasing her lift front leg with a wave of his hand. "What are you all doing?" the woman asked, "We hold her down, keep her imprisoned here with us!"

"And then what?" another of the girls asked. She waved her hand, letting go of Mittens' head, and allowing her to lift it high. "We wait until she passes on, adding to our numbers and not getting one step closer to freedom?" the last of the man asked, and waved his hand, releasing Mittens' last leg from his grip. The last of the girls stayed silent, just waving her hand. Mittens didn't feel a thing from that. "NO!" the female shouted, "As long as I keep a grip on her voice, she cannot leave us!" Mittens lunged at the woman, frightening her and sending her to the ground. They were all surprised to see claws of light poking out of her paws, "She wealds the light like a weapon!" one of the older ones said. "It's like the Mage of old!" another younger one said. "I'm not staying!" Mittens growled to the female. "And I can't free you!" she said to the rest, "Only you can find your own freedom!"

"How?" One of them asked. "I'm not sure!" Mittens admitted. Suddenly one of the oldest spirits walked up from the back, the rest parting because of him as he approached them. "Young mage!" the old man said, "I have been here since the beginning of the Necromancer's reign. And I have come to know one thing. Defeat the Necromancer, and the magic holding us in this dark place will shatter. This is all we can ask of you!" Mittens looked to the old man, his face gone and a bright beard draped from what was once a chin. Five others around his age followed him, each one different in their own way but the same in one aspect, they shined not with the dim light of the spirits, but with the bright white light of magic. "You six are…" Mittens began, and the crowd of spirits knelt down, bowing to the six of them in respect, "We are the ones that sealed the Necromancer away, the six Nobles of the Light." the one up front said. "Shadow builds up from light, our light created the Necromancer as we neglected the second half of magic. You have finally understood the true nature of light and shadow!" one of the other nobles said, "Go now and finish what we could not!" The six of them lifted their hands, letting the light erupt from the center and getting Mittens to open her eyes again with a gasp. She lay there by herself and looked around, Bolt spewed out a stream of fire to block Dark Bolt's fire as the two of them attacked each other, again. "Damnit, how the hell did I lose control of my own body?" Dark Bolt asked as the two of them stopped to take a breath. "You're body is made of my shadow stupid!" Bolt responded, "I'm just guessing you said it was fine with you once the Necromancer had you attacking me!" Dark Bolt smiled only a little, "Yah, I guess you're right!" he said, and shot out his laser vision, "Plus I was thinking if I took over our real body, the Necromancer wouldn't be able to control me any longer, it's a win win!"

"Only for you!" Bolt said as he kept dodging the attacks. "Hey, I'm the most important animal to me!" Dark Bolt said, and was surprised when Mittens came soaring over Bolt, her light claws extended outward. Mittens took one slash, and he disappeared. "Sorry Dark Bolt!" she said. "_Hey, I'm fine! Nothing like being slashed in half to get the blood pumping right?_" bolt heard from inside his mind, "_Tell her I said that!_" Bolt sighed, "He said it's ok, he's not hurt!" he said. "_That's not what I said!_" Dark Bolt complained. "Good!" Mittens responded, and turned to the horde of monster, "It ends now Necromancer!" she said, and pulled her claws back in, letting her shadow claws emerge seconds later. "Whoa!" Bolt said as he looked at them. "_Nice!_" Dark Bolt said, "_Think she's like to test them out on me?_" Bolt could hear the lustful grin in his dark half's face, "Cheeky!" he whispered. "We've been looking at this all wrong!" Mittens said, and let the darkness spread from her claws, "Light just darkens shadows, it creates them to begin with. But when you turn out the light…" The monsters staggered, leaning forward and collapsing all together, "The shadows can't exist!" she finished. Mittens smiled at her victory as she let the darkness flow back into her claws, and was quickly surrounded by her friends and husband. "Way to go Mittens!" Bolt said as he embraced her. The shadows she had created, vanished, seeping back into her claws. "Bravo!" Me. Avona said as he patted her head. Mittens smiled at them, and turned a focused angry look to the way they had come from, "It's not over yet!" she said. Her words caused each of her friends to turn where she was looking, "But now we're ready for him!" Bolt said, and placed one of his legs around her shoulders. "I certainly hope so Bolt!" she said as she turned a soft smile to him. "I certainly hope so."

**End of Chapter 15**


	16. Chapter 16 Village

**Chapter 16 – Village**

Back on Earth, Ducker leaned up against the desk inside of the communications room, "I'm telling you, we can't make any transports at your depth. It was a miracle you made it when you did." he said as Dustin angrily glared at him. "Bullshit!" was all he said, "Where are Bolt, Mittens and Rhino?" Suddenly a bat flew up to Ducker, and landed on his shoulder before squeaking at Dustin angrily, "Whisper is getting angry at you!" Ducker said. "Yah well what's the pipsqueak gonna do about it?" Dustin asked, "Just because you and a few of your friends became official members of Tarnildra doesn't mean a thing to me!" Whisper glared at the human, knowing full well that he couldn't understand him. "Look, Whisper and Click Tock showed great promise on their first mission to save the animals in the Zoo from Nightmare. What I'm concerned about is if he starts getting desperate and tries to eat humans!"

"Nightmare's already killed humans mercilessly!" Dustin said, "What makes you think he **won't** stoop to eating them?"

"We don't digest very easily!" Ducker said, "And the zookeepers tell me that we taste too metallic. I'd be more concerned if he masks a human!"

"Oh yah, your term for possess right?" Dustin said. Ducker glared at the boy angrily, "Shut up or you're on your own!" he said. "Technically, I **am** on my own!" Dustin said causing Ducker to grab the bridge of his nose. "We had no idea that it was like navigating a super sub alright!" he said, "We're just glad you have your watch on! Otherwise we would have no idea of the inside of this thing!"

"Hey, I'm just glad this thing generates air, and somehow keeps anyone inside sustained with nutrients!" Dustin said, "I'd hate to know what would have happened if I had to rely on **this** crew!" Dustin turned his watch around, showing Ducker and his gang the inside of an empty alien ship, though the picture was upside-down to the general. "Maybe next time you'll learn to appreciate our generosity!" Ducker said, and switched off the console. Ducker pinched the bridge of his nose, earning a concerned look from both Kelly and Whisper, "I'm ok!" he said when he saw them both, "It's just, two months and not a word from Bolt or Mittens. Not even Rhino, and he has the most advanced radio tech ever thought of!"

"Their transmissions would come in slowed anyways!" Kelly said, "Neutros' time frame is much slower than ours, I bet it hasn't even been a day to them." Ducker looked to her, appreciation in his eyes, "No, a day or two defiantly went by for them. Just what are they doing up there?"

Mittens lead her group to the edge of the jungle, and somehow, it seemed darker than before. "I don't get it!" Angelira said, "The sun is at its peak, and the jungle looks like midnight on a moonless night!" Bolt growled angrily at the shadows, "It has to be the Necromancer!" he said, and looked around. On the ground leading out of the jungle was a trail of shadow, a mist that hugged the ground like a perpetual fog. "He went that way!" he told everyone, and walked forward, "That's toward the Village!" Angelira said in shock. "The village of what?" Rhino asked as they began to follow him. "We just call it the Village." she responded, "They won't trust anyone with the name of it for some reason."

"We've actually found out why while you were away!" Mr. Avona said. "WHAT!" she said in surprise, "First my sister gets married and pregnant, next the Village has a reason for not having a name. What else happened in only eight months?" Everyone paused when they turned the corner of what they thought was the jungle. Instead they found the rest of it, destroyed. Trees crushed, withered and up rooted, ferns and other plats buried into the ground, and instead of just one trail of mist, there were two. "What happened here?" Rhino asked. Bolt trudged forward, searching for some kind of clue to the cause of the destruction, and pushed into the mist. It only reached up to his neck, but he didn't see the hole in front of him, and fell into it. "BOLT!" Mittens called out. "I'm OK!" Bolt called back, "I fell in some kind of…" He paused in his sentence when he looked around, the pit he was in bulged at one end, and then turned into some kind of trench, "Oh man." Bolt whispered to himself, and turned to jump out of the hole, "That was his foot print!" Bolt said. "How big is it?" Angelira asked. "You saw where I fell in the mist right?" Bolt asked. "Inches from the moment your tail disappeared into it." she replied. "Yah, it's bigger than before, he's still growing!" Bolt said, "And apparently he drags his toes!"

"We need to get there fast!" Mittens said, and walked up to her husband, "Don't spare any speed honey!" she said. Bolt nodded as Mr. Avona and his daughter grabbed hold of the collar. Rhino shrank back into his ball, and out came a blue beam of light, latching onto Bolt's tail, "Tractor beam set, I'm ready!" he said, and Bolt took off like a blur.

The screams from the villagers put a smile on the old giant's face as he stomped the houses flat. "I can't believe it!" he said, "I've waited so long to do this, and now there's more to destroy!" He looked around the Village, the number of houses he counted had to be somewhere in the two hundreds or more, and the thought of stamping them all flat just made his smile grow. Under his foot, he could feel the bodies of others he stepped on, and hear the screams of those related to him/her as the mist spread from every step he took. "Hehehe!" laughed the Necromancer, "I should wait this long every time I come to destroy this place!" he quickly felt something slam into the small of his back, and down he tumbled, slamming into the ground. "Geerr, who did that?" he asked as he lifted himself up to his elbows. He could see nothing, until he heard the rowl of a cat. Mittens quickly blocked his view as she ran to him with her light claws extended. She latched to his cheek, looking no bigger than a mosquito to him, and seared his skin with her magic. "DAAAAAAAA!" he shouted and tried to swat her from his face, "How dare you!" he said when he found he had missed. Mittens poked out her tongue, spitting at him and turning to flee. "I shall not be humiliated by…" the Necromancer began, and was quickly interrupted as he reached for her by something moving really fast as into his cheek, "DOOOOOF!" he cried as he spun around in a circle. Once again he fell to the ground. Bolt popped his head out of the man's beard and shook his head, "Do you ever clean this thing?" he asked angrily. Bolt dove back into the beard as the Necromancer reached for him, running his fingers through the white hair in his chin. "Hit him Rhino!" Bolt called out as he emerged from the beard's tip. The Necromancer looked around, finding Mr. Avona holding the crystal ball in his hands. "Are you sure this won't hurt me?" the man asked. "Definitely sure." Rhino responded as he held up an old gun, "Just be sure to brace yourself!" The ball lit up as the small beam hit the shell, shinning the familiar light. The beam fired from the ball, launching toward the Necromancer as Mr. Avona pushed against the pressure as hard as he could, keeping himself steady. It hit the Necromancer in the forehead, searing him as he screamed, "GRAAAAAAAA!" The beam quickly faded as the gun in Rhino's paws began to spark, "SHOOT!" he said, and lunged forward, opening the front of his ball, "GET RID OF THIS!" he ordered. Angelira swooped in, grabbing the gun from him and flew into the air, hurling the gun as far as she could. The explosion rang through the air as the gun burst, pushing the poor airborne Neutrosian away as she tumbled through the sky. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. Her father quickly dropped the hamster, and reached back, catching his daughter as she fell. "I'm OK!" she called out and lifted her right arm before her father had a chance to ask.

Bolt turned to the Necromancer as he heard him call out in agony, "I WILL MAKE YOU ALL PAY FOR THIS!" he screamed as he held his face with both hands and stood up. "How is he still alive?" Rhino asked as he looked up from the ground outside his ball, "That blast should have melted the skin right off of his face." When the Necromancer removed his hands, the top right quarter of his face had been reduced to bone, the ragged edges of the injury spewing with the black mist instead of blood. "Oh!" Rhino said as he looked to the damage. The injury spread from the middle of the back of his head all the way down to the cheek, curving around to behind the ear and reaching past the eye across the bridge of the nose. The eye itself was gone, replaced by nothing but darkness and a single glowing red light. "Now what?" Bolt asked as he and his wife met up with the others. "Now, you die!" they heard the Necromancer say, and they watched as the mist spewed out from under his robes. "Get close to me!" Mittens told them all, and pulled out her light claws. They all huddled around her as the mist covered them all. The Necromancer looked on angrily as he waited for them to begin to die, he felt nothing. Confusion set in as he watched the spot they were at, and quickly he could see it, a speck of light in his sea of shadows.

Deep in the mist of shadows, Mittens was surrounded by her friends, and a large shield of light. In the middle of the group, Mittens and Bolt sat there embracing, his paws wrapped around her with hers wrapped around him, her light claws extended and digging into his fur. "Are you alright?" Bolt whispered to her. "I'll be ok!" she whispered in response. The silence once again echoed through the space she created. Mr. Avon looked behind his shrunken daughter, the mist shifted, turning into monsters that clawed at the golden shield. The faces different every time but always the same motion, one scratch at the light, and then disappeared. "How long do we have?" Bolt asked. "Maybe an hour, I can't tell. This is all I can do against the apocalypse spell." she responded sadly. Bolt set his chin on the top of her head, tears beginning to flow from his closed eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more." he said. "It's ok!" Mittens said and squeezed him harder, "I'm glad you were here with me!" Mr. Avona, Angelira and Rhino all looked down, tears of their own falling to the ground. Bolt squeezed his wife even harder, holding her as close as he dared without hurting her, "There has to be something!" he said, "We've been through too much!"

"You know something Bolt?" Mittens asked. "What?" he asked. "Out of all that we've done, out of all we've been through, I'm glad I was with you for it all!" she told him. Bolt lifted his head from hers, looking her in the eyes, "Really?" he asked. Instead of answering, Mittens leaned forward, planting a kiss on his lips. Angelira floated down to Rhino, putting his paws into her hands, "Rhino!" she said, "I'm sorry about all the things I said when we broke up!"

"Why now?" Rhino asked, genuinely curious. "It's my second biggest regret!" she told him. "What's your first?" he asked her. Mr. Avona simply smiled as he watched them make up, "Giving up on you!" she told the hamster. "Mine is that I let you go so easily. I'm sorry for getting obsessed with my work." he apologized, "Will you take me back?" Angelira smiled, her tears turning to tears of joy as she threw her arms around the hamster's neck. Mr. Avona turned his happy tears to the sky, though he couldn't see through the thick black fog, 'Spirits of our world, please hear me.' he thought to himself, 'If you have any pity left in you, help these souls to survive.'

Mittens pressed harder, pushing Bolt further into her as she left her passion in his lips. The light from her claws piercing his skin, though he didn't seem to care. Suddenly the light spread, quickly covering Bolt as his fur began shining. No one noticed, not until the light he emitted began shining more like the sun.

From outside, the Necromancer looked on, his curiosity growing as he watched the little speck of light inside his cover of shadow. Suddenly it exploded, the darkness retreating and fading as the light poured forth. The light rivaled the sun; no it was brighter than that. He was forced to cover his face with his arm as the light blinded him. "WHAT IS THIS?" he asked.

**End of Chapter 16**


	17. Chapter 17 Hope

**Chapter 17 – Hope**

The Necromancer kept his hands up as the light kept him blind. "I can't see!" he said, his skeleton eye trying desperately to look through the cracks he would make in between his fingers. The light never faded or dimmed, it just kept on shining.

Mittens and the others had to turn away, the light shining off of Bolt was the brightest she had ever seen, "Bolt?" she asked as she tried to turn to him. Again she turned away, her eyes unable to take the light. He responded not by words but by action, he pressed his cheek against hers, rubbing it gently against her. She opened her eyes again, and found the light not so bright to her. The area around Bolt had vanished, covered and overcome by the light of the dog. He was now whiter than ever, every inch of him shined with a pure light. His eyes blended into his face, shining only with the light of the sun. "Bolt?" she asked again, and again he gently pressed his cheek to hers, "Are you ok?" His mouth never moved, yet it seemed as if she could hear him in his actions alone, 'I'll be fine.' she thought he said, and off he went, dashing away towards the Necromancer. When he left, Mittens and the others found themselves in a field of flowers, "Were did these come from?" Angelira asked. Mittens looked up, watching as the Necromancer lifted his head, and the light slipped down his throat as if something were forcing its way into his stomach. He grabbed his stomach, and with a burp, steeled his gaze. She watched the sweat slip down his face as he concentrated, "He's suppressing the light!" she said, "We have to draw his focus or he'll kill Bolt!" and with her lightning claws, sped away. "I've got a small idea, can you get me to his face?" Rhino asked as he turned to Angelira. "You don't have your ball!" she reminded him. "I know, but I won't need it!" he told her. Angelira smiled, and with a few flaps of her wings, lifted into the air to swoop around and snatch him up in her arms. "I guess I can just sit back, I am of no use against someone of that size." Mr. Avona told himself.

Bolt stayed curled up, letting the light of his body spread throughout the space he now inhabited. The area was filled with souls, their dark energy moving around him to avoid the light. One even reached for it, touching the light with a single claw. The light spread across its body, flowing from the claw all the way to its head. Then, the creature vanished. There was no pain, no agony, not even a flinch of pain from the soul. It almost seemed happy. Others tried to reach out for it, but something got in their way, a veil of black mist. The face on the veil had large red angry eyes, and hellfire spewing from its mouth. The souls all shied away, moving from the light they so wanted to touch.

Mittens used her lightning claws to race towards the giant, carful when he launched black balls of magic at her from his mouth. She swerved to one side, letting the magic hit the ground. It sat there, and uncurled, transforming into a monster of black magic. Angelira soared right through it, Rhino waving at the beast with a cocky smile on his face. When the creature looked at the spot the two of them had passed through him, he saw a small blinking light.

Rhino turned around, just as the first creature exploded from within. "I really didn't think that would work on a shadow!" Angelira said. "The Necromancer is getting desperate, he's giving solid physical forms to his shadows to make them deadlier to us!" Rhino responded, "The downside; we can now destroy them with conventional methods!" The shrunken Neutrosian smiled brightly, "If that's the case…" she began and sped up, flying low to the ground as several more monsters spawned. She circled them easily, weaving in and out of their attacks. With one quick move, she shot straight up into the air, and each of the monsters she had teased, attacked each other instead. "…they can kill each other conventionally as well!" she finished. "Nice!" was all Rhino said as Angelira turned to the cause of the creatures. "We have to stop him from spitting those things!" Rhino said. "How do we do that?" his returned girlfriend asked. "Get me close, I've got one more pouch with a surprise in it!" he told her. Angelira smiled mischievously, "Anything to piss this guy off!" she said, and flapped her two wings hard, flying toward his face quickly. The Necromancer spat at Mittens once again before he found himself distracted by the little angel and hamster flying circles around his head like a common gnat. "You two wish to die first?" he asked, his voice now deep and echoing, "Then I shall grant it!" He began swinging his giant hands at them trying to swat them both out of the sky. The two of them slipped in between his fingers easily, dodging him several times before he lunged forward and snapped his teeth around them. "Ugh, I hope he flossed!" Angelira said. "One second!" Rhino said and reached into his mouth. Out came another of his explosives, and with a single claw, he pushed the red button on top of it. With a toss, he lobbed it into the throat of the Necromancer, and Angelira flapped her wings once as hard as she could, fitting just barely between the first two teeth of the giant. "EW!" she said as her arm brushed up against the gum. Suddenly a pop from inside the giant's mouth, caused him to grab his own throat, and open his mouth, spewing smoke and coughing hard.

"Thanks guys!" Mittens said as she passed by them, using her wind claws to scale to the Necromancer's face. Mittens then changed claws, once again pulling out her light claws and pinning them to the man's flesh covered cheek. "GRAAAAAAAAAAA!" he grunted, and again tried to swat Mittens away.

"No! Kalita, help me! You promised you'd be there if I sustained you!" the spirit's heard the Necromancer shout. The red eyes and hellfire mouth tilted up, listening to the cries of the giant. Suddenly Bolt felt the power holding him down slip, and he let the light explode from his body, catching the large veil by surprise. The light enveloped the veil, and changed it, transforming it back into the shape of a familiar female spirit. "So, you who claimed to lead us has betrayed us and devoured us." one of the Nobles of light said, "I suspected as much. The spirit that tempted the Necromancer to seek the darkness of magic. The spirit we six foolishly created from ignorance, Kalita the Dark!" Again she shifted, changing into a black form of a spirit with angry malicious red eyes and sharpened teeth only shown by the hellfire behind them. Her legs fused into one as they touched the ground, a black mist connecting them together. Her fingers sharpened into long claws and her hair began floating above her, waving in the air like a shadow in a flickering candle light, "How long have you known of my trickery?" she asked. "We suspected your disguise the moment you decided to join us as a spirit some thirty years back." one of the female Nobles told her, "We had no real proof of your deceit, but now, it is over, you have no power and you have lost your meals." a third of the Nobles said, and pointed behind her. Kalita turned, finding the last group of the spirits touch the light, and fade away. "What?" she asked, and turned again, finding the Nobles pointing their wands to her, "We will stay," they said at the same time, "and deal the final blow to your unnatural existence!" The light of their souls shot out of their staves, leaving nothing more than six cloaks fluttering to the ground to vanish. Kalita leapt up, the light passing underneath her and hitting Bolt's light.

The Necromancer lifted his face again, opening his mouth to release the darkened spirit of Kalita. He then reached down to his stomach in pain, "Wait, you…" the Necromancer strained to say as he reached for the fleeing spirit, "…promised." he finished, and then burped. The expel of gas, caused him to explode with light. Bolt raced after her, the light from his fur shining again brighter than the sun as he chased the spirit. "NOOOOO!" she shouted as she turned to see him quickly catch up to her. Bolt slammed into her, the light exploding again as Kalita screamed in pain, the light tearing her apart as she dissolved in its intensity. Once she had vanished, Bolt let himself reform and float back down to the ground, the light fading to a much more tolerable level. "Bolt!" Mittens called out as she raced up to him. He only responded by rubbing his cheek gently against hers again. "He's…an elemental!" Rhino said as he watched Bolt mindlessly nuzzle his wife. "Has Bolt lost his consciousness?" Angelira asked as she set the hamster down. "Not if I can help!" they heard Mr. Avona say as he came up behind Bolt, and down came his fist, slamming it against the head of the elemental dog.

Inside Bolt's mind, he felt the sharp pain from the strike, and shot straight up from his sleep. "DAH, I'm awake!" he shouted and heard an even louder yawn from behind the large gouged door of steel. "What the hell!" Dark Bolt complained, "I was having a great dream!"

"Lemme guess," Bolt said as he stood up, "You destroyed the world, and took Mittens as your queen!"

"That's a perfect dream stupid!" Dark Bolt shouted, "I was dipping Nightmare in a barrel of acid just for fun and you two paid big money to throw sticky bombs at him!" Bolt stopped and actually thought about it, "As amusing as that sounds I think it's time to wake up. Why were we asleep anyway?" he said. "Don't look at me!" Dark Bolt said, and Bolt closed his eyes, coming back into his body.

"OWWW!" Bolt said as he rubbed is glowing head, "That hurt!" The moment he let go to turn to Mr. Avona, he saw his paws. The glow of light quickly faded as he examined them. "What the…" he asked. "Don't do that again!" Mittens told him as she genuinely embraced him, "I thought I lost you!" Rhino let his jaw hit the floor, "Only with Bolt can an elemental being be brought back to consciousness with a swift blow to the head!" he said. "I think it was my dad that had the strange touch!" Angelira said as she too looked at the phenomenon with shock.

**End Chapter 17**


	18. Chapter 18 Home

**Chapter 18 – Home**

"They've been talking for almost an hour!" Bolt said as he watched Angelira and Rhino speak their minds to each other. "They must have quite the memories to recite!" Mr. Avona said. Bolt and Mittens kept watch as they stood next to the O-TIP in the Avona's back yard. The gazebo that surrounded it had grown thanks to Rhino's last visit, and it looked to hem as if the old vines from before had yet to even sprout around the new pillars. Bolt's attention was returned to his friends when Rhino and Angelira embraced once again, "Looks like everything's going to be just fine!" Mittens said happily. "Yah!" Bolt said. Rhino and Angelira both walked up to them, her with folded arms and a shame on her face, "You ok?" Bolt asked. "I have something to tell you both!" she said, "I never actually got to become a reporter or a journalist." Bolt and Mittens turned to each other with only a slight surprise. "They just kept hiring me as a nice set of legs and boobs; a blond bimbo that would do anything they wanted." she told them, "But I always quit when things got…well…uncomfortable!"

"You did the right thing Angelira!" Mittens said to her. "Then, why did you lie to us about that?" Bolt asked. "Because I wanted Rhino to think that I was doing better than him at the moment." she said, and took a deep breath, "And I wanted you to be proud of me!" She was quickly scooped up by her father and placed into a gentle hug on his shoulder, "We were already proud of you my daughter!" he said. "I'll second that!" Bolt said. Mittens smiled with a loud "I'll second his second!" Bolt turned to her with a look that said, 'you really didn't just say that'. "Thanks everyone!" she said, and flapped her wings when she was released, floating back down to Rhino, "I'm ready now!" The four of them stepped on the pad, one of the butlers setting the coordinates. Each one of them waved in unison, "I'll send Skylar as soon as I can talk to him!" Angelira said as she vanished back to Earth.

"Go in here. What's in there? Oh, that looks promising! You jackasses couldn't navigate your way out of a paper bag!" the four of them heard Dustin say over the intercom. "Hay!" one of the girls said at the navigation computers. "We'll, not all of you." Dustin said, "One of you has promise in traffic!" The girl that had spoken up frowned at him. "Ok, ok, maybe my new recruits got out of hand a bit!" Ducker apologized. "A bit?" Dustin asked. "What is going on here?" Bolt called out. "About time you got here!" Dustin said as the dog came back into view, "Can you tell these kids to stop playing with the big boy stuff!" The entire group of senshols glared at him, "They have to learn somehow!" Bolt responded. The group turned back to Dustin and grinned, "You're doing this just to spite me aren't you?" he asked the white dog. "Yah, I am!" Bolt said honestly. "Once you two are done fighting over the playground…" Mittens said, causing Bolt to drop his ears in embarrassment, "What's your situation Dustin!"

"%&# $ed, lost and generally pissed off!" he responded. "Try being the better man!" Mittens said in irritation. "Fine, I'm almost there…I think!" he said, "But I have no idea how to open this big…valve/door…thing!"

"Have you tried walking in front of it?" she asked. "Duh!" Dustin said in response, "That's the first thing I did!"

"How about asking Savage to let you in?" she said. Dustin went silent, "You think that'll work?" he asked. "Just give it a try!" Mittens urged.

Dustin looked to the door nervously, "You don't think she's pissed do you?" he asked. "Just go you big chicken!" Bolt told him. "I'm not a chicken!" Dustin said as he walked up to the valve of a door, "I just don't want to die!" and reached his hand out, touching the door. With a deep breath, he called out to her.

Savage lay on the floor again, huddled together as her tears stained her cheeks. "SAVAGE, IT'S ME, DUSTIN!" she heard from the other door, and she let her eyes fly open in shock. She sat up, turned to the door of the bridge, and listened again, "UH, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR, I DON'T KNOW HOW!" she heard him say. She had heard his voice in her dreams before, but never this clearly. She didn't know whether to count it as a figment of her mind or not. "Uh, you are in there right?" Dustin asked, "Holy shit, do I have to search this place again?" Those few words got her up from the floor like a shot, the door opening when she got close. She stopped, finding him right there, standing with his hand up like it had been resting against something. She stayed quiet, looking at him in shock as he moved his hand to the back of his head, "Eh, sorry I'm late!" he chuckled. She paused again, lifting one of her hands to touch his face, "You're real!" she said, mostly to herself, "You won't disappear, will you?" Dustin scoffed, "Not unless this damn door closes on me." he said, and was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck, pinning him to her. "I've been so alone!" she said in sorrow, "I'm so scared! I just want to go home, with you."

"Yah, sure!" Dustin whispered to her, "I'd love to go to your home, maybe meet the parents!" She shook her head against his shoulder, "I can't go back there!" she told him. "But, I thought you wanted to…" he began. "My home is with you. Right here!" she said as she lifted her head to look him in the eyes. She quickly moved forward, pressing her lips to his. He never hesitated, he kissed back, gently at first but slowly pressed harder, holding her as close as he could. Suddenly the ship lurched, throwing the two of them into the bridge and closing the valve door. Savage lay on the floor with Dustin on top as the ship swam quickly towards the surface. The cry of the ship was high and pained. "Oh shit!" he said with surprise, "Who'd have thought a kiss could literally rock the boat?" Savage looked at him with fear as she listened to the cry of her ship as it screamed in pain, "It can't!" she said, and turned to the screen. From outside she could see the large body of a tentacled beast with black skin. "Is that Nightmare?" she asked. Her answer was given to her when a large skull mask of a shark came into view, the upper half of the creature looked like a gorilla while the bottom half was that of a squid. "Surprise!" he said in a wicked happiness. "Holy SHIT!" Dustin shouted.

Nightmare laughed as he looked to the frightened ship, struggling in the beast's tentacles and crying out in pain and fear.

"Fire the Meteor Canon!" she told her ship. It rocked again, causing her to fall back into Dustin's arms.

The ship opened its pincers, letting the energy between them build before releasing it, striking Nightmare square in the chest. The beast then released the ship, its tentacles falling away from its shell and letting it swim away quickly. "Son of a bitch!" Dustin said in surprise. "How did he find me?" Savage asked. "It's not you he wants it's the ship!" Dustin told her, and turned to his watch, "Did you assholes see that?" he asked.

"Negative!" Ducker said, "You didn't point your camera!" Dustin sighed in exasperation, and for once, he didn't comment back, "It was Nightmare, but not like we've ever seen before, he's a giant, bigger than this ship!"

"What are you taking to?" Savage asked. "This watch, it lets me talk to the General." Savage ignored most of what he said, but was happy to know one thing, "You have other friends?" she asked, "Can they fight?"

"You just get Nightmare up to the surface, we'll take care of him!" Ducker said. "Let's hope you know what you're getting into!" Dustin told him, and turned to Savage, "They said they'd help!"

"I know, and thank you!" she said, and steered the ship toward the top of the ocean. Dustin grabbed hold of the bar next to her, holding himself upright as the leviathan he was in shot towards the sky. "I'm not sure how we're surviving this!" he yelled as they neared the surface of the water. The moment they broke through, the ship took off for the clouds, Nightmare following close behind. His head followed the tail fin closely, and as he broke the surface, he used his large gorilla arm to try and snag the tail before it escaped him. He felt a missile hit him, pushing his arm away from the fin as he clenched a fist, the ship moving past his reach quickly. "Damn!" the monster said, and turned to where the missile had come from. A small man and a cheetah moved quickly as they tried to get away from his sight, disappearing behind a building as they moved. Nightmare turned to the escaping forms, and used his body to swim to the shore of the city. He exited the water, and turned the building, finding nothing but a bunch of garbage. "Damn. Those Tarnildrian solders again!" he growled and turned to the sky again, growling as the ship vanished behind a cloud.

The solder and the cheetah appeared on the O-TIP side by side, a large rocket gun on the human's shoulder. "Told you we could hit him!" the man said, and scratched the cheetah behind his head, "Hey Rhino, can you make a translation device; I kina want to talk to my partner here sometime!" Rhino simply nodded with a smile, "I've got an idea for it right now!" he said. "Go for it, we won't have any real data until Dustin turns his watch back on!" Ducker said, and looked to the screen. "Let them be!" Bolt said, "I'm betting that's their home now!" Ducker turned to the dog, "Not for long it's not!" he said.

**End of Chapter 18**


	19. Chapter 19 Trouble

**Chapter 19 - Trouble**

"We got some pretty good scans from what Dustin has shown us, and it looks like the ship is linked to the pilots mind through some sort of weird psychic channel."

"Psychic Channel?" Mittens asked. "Yah, the energy signature was filling the bridge and dispersed in the rest of the ship!" Ducker told them. "So?" Bolt asked. "The ship is psychic, not Savage!" Ducker said, "And from what I'm getting with those pained cries the thing gives off every once in a while, it's not accustomed to intense emotions! When Savage is calm, it's calm. But when Savage is insane or in love…"

"Are you saying that Savage's intense emotions are hurting the ship?" Mittens asked. "That's exactly what I'm saying!" Ducker said to the cat. "Wait, can intense emotions cause it to explode?" Bolt asked. Ducker nodded, his focused glare telling them he wasn't lying at all. "We need to get them off of that ship and let it cool down!" Bolt said, and raced to the O-TIP with Mittens close by. "This time, please make the teleport work." Mittens said. "No can do!" Ducker said, "The ship caught onto our first teleport and is somehow blocking any more of them into it!"

"Then teleport us on top of it!" Bolt said, "Mittens, get your grass claws ready!" Mittens nodded, and looked to her paws, the grass green blades just barely sticking out of their hidden sheathes. "Are you sure?" Ducker asked, "She could still be mentally unstable!" Bolt turned to his old friend, "I know, but I have to try to help them!" he said. "Roger that, Rhino will stay here until he's done with his new pet project!" Ducker said. "I'll stay too!" Angelira said, "I'll try to keep him from getting obsessed again!" Bolt simply nodded, agreeing with the shrunken Neutrosian, "Look's like you two are on your own!" Ducker said. "We understand!" Bolt and Mittens said together. "We'll try and take care of Nightmare before he gets back in the water while you two try and get Savage outside of her ship so it can calm down." Ducker said as he watched Bolt nod and then turned to Kelly Nortlund, "Send them!" Kelly nodded her reply, and looked to her pad, touching the screen in a certain pattern that she had memorized, activating the O-TIP and sending the two of them onto the shell of the ship.

Once Mittens saw the clear blue sky in front of her, she extracted her grass claws as far as they would go, the roots latching onto the exoskeleton of the creature and holding her down while Bolt wrapped his front paws around her shoulders. "We've got to get to the head!" Bolt called out as he held onto her. "That's going to take some teamwork if I don't want to drop you!" Mittens yelled to him. "I know, on three!" he replied, "One, two, three!" the moment he called out the last number, the two of them began to crawl at the same time, Bolt using the strength of his back legs to help push his wife forward, and Mittens moving her grass claws to latch them onto a spot in front of her kept them from falling back. "_I hope it's worth it!_" Bolt heard Dark Bolt ask from inside his head. "Saving a life…" Bolt began as the wind picked up, "…is always worth it!"

"Dark Bolt giving you trouble again?" Mittens called out so she could be heard. "Just a little!" Bolt replied. "_Tattle tale!_" Dark Bolt said.

Bolt and Mittens pushed forward reaching the spot where the neck met the shell on its back. "So?" Bolt asked, "How do we get across that?" The gap between the two pieces of shell constantly flexed and expanded, more likely to crush anything that tried to crawl down its neck. "We time it!" Mittens announced, and waited for the neck to close as the creature swam through the air. Mittens was just about to tell Bolt to go for it, when it reared up, and screamed in pain.

"Sounds like the creature is in excruciating pain!" Kelly said as she listened to the sound it made. "All that confusion piled all into one!" Ducker said, "Wouldn't you get a migraine from that?" Kelly turned to him, "Not one that would blow me up!" she said. Ducker laughed, "That's why I like you Ms Nortlund!" he said, "You always see the human side of life. That'll be good for most of us!" He quickly turned to a different channel, "Ready to fire?" he asked as he saw one of his best solders on the screen with a large snake around his shoulders, "Me and Chelsea still need to do a few minor tweaks, but we'll get it ready!" the man said. "What kind of tweaks?" ducker asked. The man scoffed, and is seemed as if the snake did the same thing, "Duh man, paint job. This thing needs a viper wrapping around it all the way to the top! With some custom flames out the mouth and a skull at the bottom, and…" the man rattled on. "Just fire the thing!" Ducker said. The man and snake looked as if they didn't like Ducker's decision, "Aw, man!" he said, "Fine! But the next one we fire off is going to look sick!" The screen switched to a view of Nightmare, the creature standing out in the ocean as he terrorized a beach. The thing was, only solders were on the sands, firing guns at him as they tried to lure him onto the sand. Instead of moving, he would flip one of his tentacles at them, the sand kicking up and getting either into their eyes, or causing them to retreat. Monkeys ran out to the injured, several of them dragging the human back as they teleported back to HQ for medical treatment. Other animals would run out to gather the blinded so that they could lead them to safety and wash out their eyes. "Ready girl?" the marksman asked his cheetah. The animal nodded, and turned to her side, letting him pull out a large sniper rifle. "Here yah go girl!" he said as he placed a set of ear muffs on the cheetah's ears. She purred her thanks to him as he gently set his rifle on her back. "Steady!" he whispered, and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed through the air, ricocheting off of Nightmare's mask, close to the eye. "Nope!" the man said to his cheetah, "That was my fault!" He loaded the gun again, aiming carefully as Nightmare turned to the two of them, "Pow!" he said, and again pulled the trigger. This time the bullet sailed into Nightmare's eye, dousing the red glow, and causing him to shake his head in curiosity. "Well, that's our cue!" the man said, and picked up the case for his gun, "Got any other places to hit him from?" he asked as the two of them ran away from the sand.

"One eye down!" Ducker said, and switched the screen again, finding the man spraying the missile with green paint. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Oh, come on man!" the human said, "We're signing it! Almost done, aren't we Chelsea?" The snake turned to the camera with a sassy attitude, almost as if she were flirting with him. "Ok, Lepnand!" he said, giving the Tarnildrian word for his rank, "She's signed and sealed! We just gotta deliver her!"

"I give you permission to deliver the package!" Ducker said as he placed his hand to his face. "That's all we wanted to know!" the man said, and ran as far from the missile as he could before pressing a button on the far side of the room. The missile let of a boom as the fire lit up from underneath it, pushing the explosive up into the air. "Ho, man!" the human said and turned to his snake, "Did you see that Chelsea? We're going to be remembered by the stars!" Ducker just planted his face in his hand, "How did he become one of MY solders?" he asked after he placed the mic on mute. "I have no idea sir!" Kelly said as she shook her head, "At least the snake is somewhat tolerable." Kelly turned her head and mumbled, "When she's not giving you a saucy look!"

Mittens and Bolt held on tight as the head of the ship was flung around, "Wow that must have been a dozy!" Bolt called out when it calmed down. "I think Savage just had a huge surge of emotion!" Mittens told him, "Things are getting way out of hand!" Bolt pushed with his back legs getting her as close to the head as he could, "Agreed!" he said as he waited for the head to come back, "Here it comes!" Mittens let her front paws release from the back as the head approached. She latched them to the head and released her back claws, letting the head take them away from the neck. Bolt again pushed them forward, letting Mittens latch her back claws to the head and Bolt pulled his legs forward just as the neck pinched closed, "WHOA!" he called as he turned around, watching as his tail was nearly crushed in the compactor like neck, "Close call!" he told himself, and helped his wife move forward. It wasn't far until Mittens saw a large black lump coming from the skeleton of the ship. "There!" she said, and turned towards the closest one, "That must be one of the eyes!"

"Get close!" Bolt told her, "Maybe we can use it to tell them about what's happening!"

**End of Chapter 19**


	20. Chapter 20 Destruction

**Chapter 20 – Destruction**

"You've all got thirty seconds before the missile gets there!" Kelly said into her headset. "Hey, you don't have to worry about me and Tash!" the man with the cheetah said, "We've got a great spot to just sit back and watch from!" He looked through the scope on his gun as he sat atop a large nearby building, the cheetah laying down to act as a rest for his barrel while he was sprawled out on his belly, targeting the other eye of the creature known as Nightmare. "This is for Tasha's brother you asshole!" he whispered, and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed through the air, slamming into the last eyes of Nightmare, dousing it entirely. Nightmare didn't flinch at all; he just began looking around as if trying to remember where he was. "Got him for yah girl!" he said, and it almost looked as if the cheetah smiled with a purr. "Pow!" she suddenly said. The man turned to her, curiously, "Hey girl!" he said, "I can understand you!" Tasha turned to the man curiously, "That's because I upgraded your watches to translate animal speak!" they heard Rhino say over the speaker, "It was just a program download going straight to your coms via communication connection!"

"So you upgrade our tech by calling it?" Tasha asked. The man turned his watch towards him, seeing the smile on the hamster's face, "Angelira's idea! And to be honest, I like it!" he said. The man and cheetah looked up, just in time to see the last of the troops vanish by teleportation, and the missile hit Nightmare head on. "That's our cue girl!" he said. "Let's go!" Tasha said just as he placed his hand on her back. The two of them disappeared together, leaving the blast to damage no one but Nightmare.

The man and his cheetah reappeared in the HQ, trailing behind a monkey and a nurse, "We always get the rough end of the deal don't we girl?" he asked. "What are you talking about?" Tasha asked, "I see lunch!" The man smiled and chuckled, "Looks like we were talking about the same ugly little thing!" he whispered to her. Tasha laughed, causing the monkey to turn to her nervously. "How bout I go and get you some lunch instead, same as usual?" the man said. "Actually Terrance, I'd like to try that Chinese food you were talking about!" she said honestly as they walked away.

Ducker looked to the screen as the blast died down, Nightmare gone from the area. "Thermal scans will be useless since he doesn't produce body heat!" he mumbled as he looked for any sign of the monster. "Actually sir, I think a good echo reading would do!" Kelly told him. "Right!" Ducker agreed, "Send in an echo emitter and get me a reading, I want to see Nightmare's mask on my screen!" he ordered. Kelly scrambled to get the order out, telling others exactly what Ducker had said. "Echo emitter active!" one of the controllers at the computers said, "ETA to echo site is 00:53." another repeated, and everyone heard the launch, the sound of something sliding through the air like a sword. The loud swooshing nose was music to Ducker's ears, "Where are you, you bastard?" he whispered to himself and waited until the emitter could be in place.

Bolt pushed against the wind as hard as he could, Mittens pushing with him to inch closer to the giant eye on the ship's face. "SAVAGE!" Bolt called out, only to be interrupted by Mittens. "We're still too far away!" Mittens said, "The speed of this wind is carrying our voices away from the eye, we have to go around!"

"Why can't they just see us?" Bolt asked. "Think about it!" was all Mittens told him. Bolt would have let his eyes open wide in shock if the wind wasn't threatening to pull them out if he did. "Ok than!" he said, "Let's get around that eye!" The two of them moved as quickly as they could without flying away from the ship. Both knew that one wrong move could spell disaster for them. It took a while, but they finally made it to the other side, and Bolt looked away, "Whoa!" he said, catching Mittens' attention. Behind them sat thousands of eyes, small ones that looked more like a basketball, and others that Bolt swore were the size of ships. "How many eyes does this thing have?" Mittens asked. Bolt simply shrugged. Mittens shook her head, clearing the question from her mind, "Let me do the talking!" she said. "Why?" Bolt asked as he looked to his wife. "She's still scared of you remember?" Mittens reminded him, "It'll go lot smoother if I talk so she doesn't know you're here!" Suddenly the ship once again flinched, throwing its head back in excruciating pain, "Holy macaroni!" Bolt said, "What's causing this?"

"I think I know!" Mittens said. "Are you going to tell me?" Bolt asked. "If you have to ask right now, then we need to spend more time together!" Mittens said, and Bolt let the realization hit him. "SAVAGE!" Mittens called out.

From behind the console, Dustin poked his head up, breathing hard and happy as a lark, "Oh yah she is!" he said with a smile! Savage lifted her own head, her hair tussled and out of breath, "She can't hear you, she's on the outside of the ship!" she said with a smile. "So she can't hear **us**!" he mentioned with a similar grin. "YOU HAVE TO EVACUATE THE SHIP!" Mittens told them, "DUCKER THINKS THE PAIN THAT THE SHIP IS IN WILL CAUSE IT TO SELF-DESTRUCT!" The two of them were caught off guard when the ship once again lurched up in pain; the scream it let out was of pure agony. Inside, the room they were in lit up with a red light and siren. "Holy shit!" Dustin said as the two of them looked to the ceiling, "This thing can self-destruct?" With one quick motion, Savage lifted up and grabbed his hand, "It only does that if it has taken so much damage that it can't survive!" she told him, "I can't think of what would cause it to act like that though." She made it to the door, and turned, spotting Bolt holding onto Mittens tightly as Dustin moved on ahead. "You!" she whispered to herself as her anger rose again, and Dustin grabbed her arm. "Let's get going!" he shouted, and ran out the door, just as the console began sparking with stray arcs of electricity.

The two of them ran as quickly as they could, walls of flesh bursting so that pipes could explode with steam and other things, "Oh my poor ship!" Savage said as she ran past a few pipes poking out of the walls, "What has he done to you?"

"Let's worry about what this ship is going to do to us!" Dustin shouted. Suddenly a large lurch the ship made tossed them to the side, Dustin landing on the soft flesh of the wall and Savage landing on him, "Ooooffff!" he said in pain as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sorry!" she apologized, and the two suddenly felt themselves sliding back the way they came. "It's descending!" she said as Dustin reached up to grab a stray pipe. "And fast!" he told her as he felt his feet want to pick themselves off of the floor. He quickly turned around, placing Savage on his back and both hands on the pipe. "If I can use these pipes like a ladder, maybe we can make it to the trans point!" he said. "No time!" she told him, "Just head for that portal, we can use it to get to the flight deck!" She pointed to an opening near a large set of pipes, almost three doors up. "Well, let's go!" he said and began to climb the pipes like a ladder.

"What do we do now?" Bolt asked. "You hold onto me and we hope they make it out!" Mittens called back, and let go of the shell with her claws. They both were wisped away as the ship fall to the earth, and Mittens extended her wind claws. She put them into a slow decent, watching as the ship dive bombed towards the ground.

A piece of the shell on the outside opened up, six triangle pieces folding outward like a valve, "This is it!" Savage said. "This is a flight deck?" he asked. "What else do you expect from a race that has wings?" she asked. "Oh yah…Good point!" he said, and looked over the edge. He was about to say something when another pipe blew, the bend striking him in the back of the head. "Gya!" he called out, and fell unconscious. "Dustin!" Savage called out as she grabbed his arm. His body fell out of the ship, floating precariously in mid air as she pulled him to her, "I won't let him take you from me as well!" she said, and jumped, unfolding her wings and gliding away. The ship neared the ground, turning up and going back to the sky before it hit. The steam that poured out of it saddened Savage as she watched it go, and she tightened her grip on Dustin.

Bolt and Mittens both watched curiously as the ship turned up, and they both nearly wet themselves when they saw it was coming right for them. "Move it Mittens!" Bolt shouted, and Mittens turned in mid air, dodging the first strike as it sailed past them. It opened its back, spewing the spores and letting them explode around the two of them. "WHY CAN'T WE JUST SAVE SOMEONE AND NOT GET ATTACKED FOR IT?" Bolt shouted. "I DON'T KNOW!" Mittens said as she panicked, her voice high and about to cry. Suddenly, the ship let out another cry, lurching up as it began to glow. Bolt turned around and gasped, "BRACE YOURSELF!" he shouted, and put himself around her, covering as much of her as he could. The explosion was enormous, shredding the ship to bits and the shockwave pushed the two of them into a tumble. Bolt held on tight as he and his wife tumbled to the ground. Bolt looked to Mittens, finding her trying desperately to breath. He pushed his back legs out, stopping the spin and letting her take that breath she needed. Mittens then extracted her wind claws, with barely enough time to stop them from hitting the ground. They tumbled, Bolt trying to land on the ground with Mittens on top of him each time. They slowed down greatly, and when they stopped, Bolt lifted himself off of her. "Oof!" he said, "You ok?" Mittens coughed once and tried to lift herself up, "Yah!" she said, "I think so!" She got to her paws, and shook the pain away. "YOU!" they both heard as Savage came gliding in. Dustin hung limp in her arms as she swooped around, before landing and setting him down behind a tree. "You take my dream, then my security and now you take my home?" she asked, and thrust her hand into a large knot in the trunk. She brought out a sword that looked exactly like the one she had attacked him with the first time, "I…I didn't…" Bolt began, and watched as she lifted the familiar blade high into the air. "I'm going to kill you, before you take anything else away!" she said angrily.

**End of chapter 20**


	21. Chapter 21 Apology

**Chapter 21 – Apology**

Bolt dodged to one side as the blade came crashing down. Again the black tar like adhesive poured out of the vents along the blade, soaking the ground in a sticky puddle of goop. "Hey!" Bolt shouted, "Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Savage lifted the blade again, her glare pointed right at him, "I'm not going to stop!" she said, "I'm going to kill you!" Again she charged at him, slamming her blade into the ground he once stood as he dodged, the tar seeping out of the blade and saturating the ground. Mittens darted in close to him, "If she keeps doing that there won't be anywhere for us to go!" she whispered into his ear. Savage again lunged, this time throwing the tip of the blade at them. The tar flung out as Bolt and Mittens dodged, the glob of muck shooting past them and slamming into a tree. "She can shoot it too?" Bolt asked in surprise. Again she stabbed at them, the glob of adhesive flying out of the blade as they tried dodging again. The glob struck Bolt in the tip of his tail, covering the fur in black sticky resin. "Ew!" he said, and dodged gain as a large blob sailed past him. He quickly found his wife close by, flying in to swipe her fire claws at the goop and burn it. "Careful!" Bolt told her as the flaming goop slammed into the ground. Mittens found it quickly spread, and she flew over to it, extending her water claws to quickly douse the flames. Mittens was surprised when Bolt tackled her, pushing her away as a glob of tar stuck her to the ground by her tail. "I'm stuck!" she said as the two of them separated. Bolt looked up, watching as Savage neared Mittens with her sword raised high above her head, "Leave my wife alone!" Bolt said, and rushed at the alien, slammed his head against the blade of the sword and knocking it away. He shook his head, and looked to the spot he had hit the blade with. His forehead was saturated in a large spot of tar, making just about everything he touched stick to him. "Aw crap!" he said, and watched Savage run to pick up her sword. She picked it up quickly, not stopping as she continued to run toward the trees. "Wait!" Bolt shouted, and turned to his wife instead. He ran up to her, dug his paw into the ground around her tail, and pulled, lifting the dirt with her tail. "There!" he said, "Now come on!" With a powerful kick of his legs, he took off, racing towards where he saw Savage disappear to. "Wait for me!" Mittens called out as she used her lightning claws to race after him.

Bolt quickly came to a slow walk as he turned he head, looking around for Savage as he moved cautiously. She was nowhere in sight. Blot closed his eyes, taking a few sniffs of the air around him. With his eyes closed, he could see what his nose was telling him, her scent trailed in footsteps, moving through the trees until they found their way to a tree with a low hanging branch. She had climbed the tree a little ways and jumped, gliding away towards the same direction she had been running. "There you are!" Bolt whispered, and followed the scent as Mittens caught up to him. "Don't run off like that!" she said. Bolt lowered his ears as he looked to her, "Sorry!" he said bashfully. They moved a little ways, and there in the middle of the forest was a cabin, a house within the trees. "Wow!" Mittens said as the two of them gawked at the place. "Maybe we can buy this for Savage as an apology for destroying her ship!" Bolt suggested. "Bolt, we didn't destroy her ship! She did!" Mittens reminded him. "LIES!" they heard Savage say as she opened up one of the windows facing them. She quickly pulled up what could only be described as a gun, the outside like an insect's shell in look but more like an assault rifle in design. "If we do get this place for her, the gun has to go!" Bolt said, and Savage pulled the trigger. Bolt quickly felt something hit him, and burry deep in his fur, poking him in the side of his neck. "Ow!" he said, and reached into his fur, pulling out what looked to be a bone in the shape of a long dart. "It shoot's bones?" he asked, and looked up at her with Mittens following his actions. Savage once again pulled the trigger, catching Bolt in the neck again. This time she held the trigger down, the bone shots exiting the barrel one after another. Bolt let the first one hit him, then he took off, carrying Mittens with him as he moved away. "I thought she was dangerous before!" he said, and hid behind the closest tree. He didn't expect it when one of the bone spikes ripped through a branch, tearing it off of the tree itself and falling to the ground with the large piece of wood close by. "Yikes!" he called out as he watched the branch fall to the ground. He peeked out from behind the tree, and quickly pulled it back as several more bones sailed past. They buried themselves into the wood of a tree, disappearing all the way. "Just how much power do those things have?" Mittens asked as she glanced to the holes. "How much ammo does she have, I haven't heard her reload yet" Bolt asked. He crouched down, "I'll draw her fire, you try to get that gun out of her hands!" he told her, and raced out from behind cover, the spray of bone bullets following closely behind him. Mittens peeked out from behind her side of the tree, finding Savage preoccupied with Bolt. She crept around, keeping low to the ground as she traveled towards the house. With a quick turn of her head, Savage spotted her, and turned the gun towards her, pulling the trigger and causing Mittens to jump into a bush. "MITTENS!" Bolt shouted as he watched the spray of bone enter into the bush. Savage turned her sights back to Bolt, satisfied that he had no one else to help him. The white Shepherd darted around, trying to get closer only to find the darts increase in amount as he neared her. He quickly moved to the side of the house and out of Savage's reach, only to come nose to nose with Mittens. "Mittens?" he asked and then looked relieved, "Mittens!" He wrapped his paws around her neck, hugging her tightly. "What, you thought I was dead?" she asked. "Yes!" he said angrily as he let her go. "We'll I'm not, I used the Shadow Phase spell with my claws to move from the shadow of the bush to the shadow behind the house!" she told him. "But what about inside the house." Bolt asked. "There's nothing making a shadow, no furniture or anything!" Mittens told him, "Sorry."

"How about a closet?" he asked her. Mittens smiled, "I got just the one as well!" she said, and grabbed him, leading him under the stairs as they disappeared, just before Savage exited the building.

"Why's it so cold in here!" Bolt whispered. "It's the only place I could think of with shadow!" Mittens told him. "What was the only place you could think of?" Bolt asked. "The inside of the fridge!" Mittens told him. Suddenly Bolt lifted his head, slamming it into the shelf above him, "OW!" he grunted, and crawled towards door, pushing with his paws lighting up the area. "The fridge?" he asked as he and his wife dropped to the floor. "Sue me!" she said. Bolt signed, "I think I know how the leftover turkey feels!" he said and looked around, "It's a nice place!" Bolt said as he looked around. "Yah, but we have to find out which room Savage is in so we can get her to stop shooting at us!" Mittens told him. "Right, so where is she?" Bolt asked as they made it to the door. "I think she was in this room!" Mittens told him with a nod of her head. Bolt followed down the hall, and into a nearby room. Mittens jumped up to the sill, looking out to the wooded area, "Yup, this is the window!" Mittens said as she spotted the mangled trees. "She's not here!" Bolt said as he placed his paw to the door of the closet. He only meant to open it a crack, but instead it slid open all the way, letting fall over fifty alien guns, "Just what was she going to use this arsenal for?" Bolt asked as he looked at all of the different guns on the ground. "Who's there?" they heard Savage call out. "Uh oh!" Bolt said, and ran to the far side, behind the door. Mittens used one quick swipe of her wind claws, lifting the guns up and back into the closet, shutting it quickly soared over to Bolt, just before Savage came into the room. She crept around, keeping her feet light and silent, "I know you're here!" she said, and spun around, catching Bolt and Mittens before they could exit the room. "Oh crud!" Bolt said, and grabbed Mittens by the scruff and taking off quickly. The darts landed in the ground, burying themselves in the carpet instead. Savage darted for the hallway, pointing the gun down and pulling the trigger, just as Bolt turned the corner. "We gotta lead her out of the house!" he said, and ran for the door, Mittens hot on his tail. "You get behind her and hit her with a blast of air." he said, "I'll lure her to the door!" Mittens nodded and lifted herself up to the ceiling, staying as close to the corner as she could. Savage ran right by her as she chased Bolt to the porch. Mittens acted fast, swinging her paw with the wind claws out, and striking Savage in the back, pushing the alien out of the house. With a swift second swipe, she slammed the door shut, locking Savage out of the house.

Savage turned, slamming her fist against the door once, before grunting in anger. She quickly turned and pointed her gun at him, pulling the trigger. Bolt dodged to the side, racing away and circling back. "If you think you can just get me to run out of tacks you're wrong, the gun regenerates them so it can shoot them again!" Savage said as Bolt took off again in the other direction. Bolt then turned, ducking behind a large tree. "Wait, it what?" he asked. "I'll never run out of tacks!" she explained, "My race's technology is a mixture of biological and mechanical parts."

"Those are tacks?" he asked. "This thing was originally used as a wall tack device." she said, "It was used to hang picture frames or pin up drapes! But after I modified the biological makeup and mechanical frame, it turned into this!" Mittens emerged from inside the shadow of the tree he was hiding behind, and with a swift wave of her paw, brought him to her, the both of them sinking into the shadows. Savage moved around the tee, finding nothing there.

"Magic isn't going to do it, my strategies aren't working!" Bolt whispered as he paced around behind a bush, "How are we going to get her to calm down enough to talk to her?"

"I wish I knew." Mittens said, and then something came to her, "What if we turn you into an elemental again?"

"Is that what happened with the Necromancer?" Bolt asked. "Yah, you became a light elemental somehow." she told him. "Ok, turn me to light again and I'll stop her." Bolt said. "No, it won't be that simple." she told him, "She'll just shoot you and you won't be able to hide. No, we need to give you an element that she can't hit and gives you an advantage!"

"What element do you think I can handle?" Bolt asked. Suddenly a spray of tacks showered through the bush hiding them. Bolt and Mittens pinned themselves to the ground, hoping the darts would just pass them by. Bolt felt a couple hit him in the side, burying into his fur and poking his skin. Mittens turned her head, looking for anything that could help, but then she heard him yelp. She turned back, seeing him hold his side as blood trickled out. "Oh no!" she said, and reached out her paw, pulling out her water claws. She quickly placed them on her husband's fur as Bolt reached back and pulled the dart from his side, blood staining it and water snaking its way to his wound. He yelped again and pulled another dart from his hip. Mittens tried to keep up with the injuries, pushing herself to expel more of her magical water than she ever thought she would ever need to. Bolt reached out, and pulled her by the tip of her tail until she was shielded by him. Mittens reached for him again, piercing his skin with her claws. The water spread around him completely, surrounding him in the magical water. What surprised her was when he faded away, leaving just the water shaped like him and the tar on his forehead and tail spilling to the ground. It opened its eyes. "Bolt?" she whispered and again he nuzzled her cheek, "Oh no not again!" she told herself.

**End of Chapter 21**


	22. Final Chapter Elemental

**Chapter 22 – Elemental**

"Bolt!" Mittens said cautiously as the water dog nuzzled her cheek. The darts that entered him now didn't hurt him; instead they stopped about half way and sank to the ground at his chest. "Please wake up!" she said.

Bolt lifted his head up out of the water, taking a deep breath as he tried to catch it, "What the…" he asked. "Did you wet the bed?" he heard Dark Bolt ask from beyond his prison. "Very funny!" Bolt said, "We must have changed into an elemental!" He heard Dark Bolt shift in his chains, "Please tell me it's the water elemental!" he said, "Because if all this is because you clogged the toilet…" Bolt turned to the gouged door quickly, "We don't have a toilet in here!" Bolt told him, "Now let me concentrate!" The white shepherd saw the light enter into his eyes as he once again took control of his body.

"Mmmm!" he groaned, as he slowly pulled his head away from his wife, "Mittens?" he asked, feeling the darts as they still entered into his liquid body. "You did it!" Mittens said happily, "You woke up and took control!" Bolt smiled in his elemental form, and turned towards the shots, "Now, let's see what this power can do!" he said and jumped out of the bush. The moment he landed, he growled at her. She stopped firing, the gun, looking at him in both wonder and amazement, then she focused, her anger once again rising as she pointed the gun at him. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" she shouted as she sprayed him with bone spikes. The bullets entered his body as he just growled at her, sliding in about a foot and a half before sinking to his belly and then falling to the ground below. "_Hey Moron!_" he heard Dark Bolt say, "_You are __**made**__ from water, try shifting your form!_" Bolt focused, thinking about a different shape. His body shifted, quickly molding itself into a…cat. "_A cat? Really?_" Dark Bolt asked. "Hey, I've always wanted to see what it was like being one!" his other half told him, and charged at Savage. He found himself slide over the ground, almost as if he were on ice with the fluid movements he made. With one fast move, he lifted up, sliding over the gun and pushing it to the sky, away from his wife Mittens. "Just calm down!" he said as he reformed behind her. Savage then turned her gun to him again, firing her spray of bone spikes that sank and fell to the ground. She quickly tossed the gun down, reaching behind her and drawing her sword. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!" she screamed as she lifted it up. Bolt let himself split in half, the blade striking the ground as he moved away to reform behind her as a dog again. "Whoa!" he said, "I didn't even know I could do that!"

"_Liquid stupid, non stable form!_" he heard Dark Bolt say. "So, I can do just about anything that water can do?" he asked. "_Do you really have to ask?_" Dark Bolt asked in exasperation. Bolt then melted, splashing to the floor as savage tried to slice his head off. She turned around, expecting him to be there; instead she felt her feet splash into wet ground. She looked down, finding water gather from everywhere, and up it came, rising up from the ground around her, and encased her completely. The water then expanded inside, filling up and cutting off her air. She slashed wildly at the water, letting out some of the tar as she swung, but all it did was slide down to the ground, almost as if it were being pushed by something. "I'm sorry!" she finally hear Bolt whisper into her ear. She opened her eyes, looking surprised as she felt her body begin to relax from drowning. Before she fell into unconsciousness, the water popped, splashing all over the ground and allowing her to breathe. She coughed and gasped for air as she just lay there, wet and tired. Bolt let himself reform, back into the liquid dog he was supposed to be. "I'm sorry for everything I did to hurt you!" he repeated, "I never meant any of it."

"_I did!_" he heard Dark Bolt say. Savage simply lay there, taking deep breaths as she regained her strength. Mittens walked out of the bush, scratches all over her, but fine of the most part. Savage began to cry, her sobs becoming erratic almost instantly. "Why?" she asked, "I just wanted one thing!" Bolt looked to Mittens, and then back to Savage. "I wanted one thing and I lost everything!" Savage repeated. "That's because you wanted the wrong thing!" they heard Dustin say. He staggered in from the woods, a hand on the back of his head as he tried to rub the pain away. "What the hell was your damn dream anyway?" he asked. "I just want the pain to stop!" she said, "Why won't it stop?" Dustin knelt down, lifting her up and wrapping her in a large hug, "Whatever this pain is, I'm here now!" he said. Savage just cried harder.

"Nice work Bolt!" Ducker said as he walked up to the now normal white shepherd. "Thanks!" Bolt said, "I'm glad we could stop her without hurting her!"

"As am I!" Ducker said, "Now that she's calmed down, we could use her on our team!"

"These weapons are amazing!" they all heard Rhino shout. They turned, seeing the little hamster crawl all over the weapons they had brought back from Savage's stash. "They're built then grown!" Rhino said as he observed them, "Simply amazing!" Dustin walked into the HQ, a large clean white t-shirt on his chest and a pair of fresh pants hiding his legs, "Well, she's asleep!" he said, and leaned against the wall. "Did she tell you what she meant by pain?" Bolt asked. "I've been wondering about that as well." Mittens replied as she stood next to her husband. "From what I got, she was exiled from her home planet for trying to take over. She had a huge cult following that tried to do all kinds of weird things to her, before that, but she escaped. The cult was eventually destroyed in the war she had started. After that she landed on several planets, hoping to conquer them, but failed until she got here." Dustin explained, "I think her pain is something that happened when Dark Bolt almost killed her, she felt the pain of hopelessness, the pain of realizing your dream has been crushed by someone else. She'll never be the ruler of her own planet, she knows that now!" Bolt turned his head down, his ears flattening to his head, "Normally I'd love to see you down in the dumps." Dustin said, "But now that I know better, chin up dumbass!" Bolt lifted his head, looking to the human with curiosity, "She wanted me to tell you that she heard your apology, and she has decided that instead of ruling a world, she'll be happy just ruling a small house in the woods." Dustin explained. "So, you're doing this for Savage, and not because you finally came to your senses?" Bolt asked. "You think I'd encourage you of my own decision?" Dustin asked, acting as if such a thought was just ludicrous, "You really are a dumbass!"

"And you're just vulgar!" they heard Ducker say, "Shut your trap and get back to your station, you said she was your responsibility now!"

"Ok, ok!" Dustin said, and as he left the room finished, "Jackass!" Ducker smiled, and turned to Kelly, "Try to get a full scan on those weapons, maybe when Savage has had a good night's sleep and a few meals, she'll help us make more!" Kelly turned to him, "More sir?" she asked. "These weapons will be even more effective against Nightmare, the bone darts don't need gunpowder to launch them, and they make their own ammo!" he said, "This could be the turning point in this war!"

Somewhere in the city, a gang of people walked around, guns held snugly in their waist bands, almost as if they were going to war themselves. Another group of people showed up, angry and ready for a fight. They both stopped, curiosity stamped on their faces as they spotted the skull of a very large shark. "Wha the hell is that?" One of them asked. "Don't know!" another replied. Suddenly the skull melted, launching at both gangs quickly and wrapping itself around the heads of everyone there. All too quickly they stopped moving, and were dragged by their heads together. The bodies never fused, instead a face was formed in the middle. The top half of a large skeleton figure of a man rose up, his body motionless until he moved his jaw, "Damn!" Nightmare said, "I can't fuse humans, and their bodies decompose too quickly!" Then he felt it, the power, "But the energy they give me must be ten times what animals have!" he said with surprise, "I think I have just the plan!"

**The End**


	23. Author's Note

Author's Note

Thus ends the third book of the Soul Chronicles, but fear not, the fourth and final book will be released here soon. The fight against Nightmare comes to a gripping conclusion and Dark Bolt reveals a nasty little secret. Once I am caught up with a few of my other fanfictions I'll start the last of the Soul Chronicles books, until then, as usual here's a sneak peek into the story of the last book.

"I'm fine, really!" Savage said as she walked around the base. "Are you sure?" Dustin asked as he walked close to her, "You're not going to flip out and go crazy again are you?"

"I promise I'll keep myself in check!" she said with a smile, "I want to stay as much as you do!" Dustin quirked an eye brow, "But, what about that whole 'ruling a small house in the woods' thing?" he asked. "I can do that later, but for now, we need to stop Nightmare!" she said. "Why do we need to get involved with their stupid war?" Dustin asked. "Because if we don't destroy Nightmare, then there will be no house in the woods, because there won't be any woods!" she reasoned. "Ah, #%$&!" he swore, "I hate when you make sense!" Savage smiled brightly, as if something good had just happened. She turned to a set of swinging double doors, the insides were decorated with flat half moon pieces of metal, but nowhere could she find a handle. "Just push on the metal parts!" Dustin told her, "They sing both ways."

"That's just unheard of!" she told him nearly angry, until the mechanic with the snake came out, a large burrito in the snake's mouth as she gulped it down, "Chew it Chelsea!" he said as the snake swallowed. "What, you don't like my biiig lips?" she asked with her voice dripping with sexual intentions. Savage watched with wide eyes, not as the two of them passed her by, but as the two doors swung out, and then in, settling after the second pass. "You humans are ingenious!" she said, and Dustin smiled. The two of them entered into the cafeteria, rows of tables with bench stools attached lined the back while others standing stood in line near the front, waiting for their meal. "I told you we'd be $#%& late for dinner!" he said with grumpiness in his voice. "Do you really want me to flip out on you?" she asked. "I'll shut up!" was all he could say.

There it is, I'll get started on it after I'm finished with my other stories, and thank you very much for reading by books. You all have no idea how important you fans are to my writing. I appreciate all of your support and wish you luck and fortune on your own endeavors. Till then; Read, Review and Enjoy!


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